Beautiful unexpected attraction
by H.Skye
Summary: This is my first piece of writing like this so i have absolutely no idea what i'm doing, it's just for fun. I have a few other chapters but just seeing how this goes. The italics are the character's thoughts. welcoming all criticism, enjoy :)
1. Chapter 1 - The damn chocolates

**This is my first piece of writing like this so i have absolutely no idea what i'm doing, it's just for fun. The italics are the character's thoughts. welcoming all criticism, enjoy :)**

**Chapter 1 – The damn chocolates**

Piper reached as far as her arm would stretch to grab the box of chocolates on the top shelf of the confectionery aisle.

'Hurry up Piper, we need to go!' Polly whined.

'Okay okay, I'm trying to reach the chocolates. You're the one that wanted me to get the god damn chocolates!' Piper hissed. She was becoming increasingly frustrated with her hormonal, pregnant best friend.

'Wow, you really gonna shout at a pregnant lady?!'

'No.' Piper paused, closing her eyes, 'I'm sorry.' Piper took a deep breath, trying to stay calm because the last thing she needed was Polly having one of her pregnant hissy fits in the middle of Walmart.

'Just get the chocolates okay, they're the only ones Pete's mother eats at the moment and I really don't have the patience these days to listen to her rant on about her dairy free diet'

Piper flexed her wrists and went up on her tiptoes again to have another attempt at reaching the box.

'Who puts food this fucking high up on a shelf, come on like anybody's_ that_ tall!'

Piper's voice became louder, she was losing her patience with everything today and the fact that the only chocolates Polly wanted were on the highest shelf in the entire shop was typical.

'I don't know, but Pipes, I'm going to the checkout now because I'm really not meant to be carrying heavy stuff, I dunno ask someone for help, I just need those chocolates!'

Polly rushed off and Piper ignored her, determined to reach one of those chocolate boxes without asking anyone for help, she hated doing that. She pushed a strand of blonde hair off her forehead, and jumped for the top shelf, whacking the box off with the tips of her fingers, along with every other box on the shelf. They came crashing down from above her and she quickly shielded herself with her arms.

'Shit!' she shouted, probably a bit too loudly.

'Need some help there 'mam?' A soft, husky voice asked, close behind her. Piper whipped her head round in embarrassment and suddenly her eyes widened. Stood in front of her was a beautiful woman with gorgeous, straight, glossy black hair down to her shoulders. Her skin was a milky white and flawless, her kissable lips coated with a bright red lipstick. Slick black eyeliner brought attention to her forest green eyes and she wore a pair of sexy black rimmed glasses that she now pushed to the top of her head. She stood with one hand on her hip, her body gorgeously curvy. She scanned Piper up and down and smiled with the corner of her mouth, one eyebrow raised.

'Erm, I..ahhh' _damn, she's hot. _Piper blushed and bent over to pick up the box of chocolates, and simultaneously the mysterious woman reached for the same box. Their hands touched for a brief moment but Piper snatched the box and held it to her chest, quickly standing up straight.

She cleared her throat, 'I'm really sorry, this is embarrassing, it's just so high-'

'-It's okay, I'll clean it up. That is my job after all' the woman smirked and began picking up the other boxes. Piper had never seen a woman so beautiful, and in the time she had spent staring at her, she hadn't even noticed that the black haired beauty worked at the store.

'Let me help' Piper joined the woman in picking up the rest of the chocolate boxes. The woman held out her arms filled with the chocolates and Piper carefully placed the rest on top, making sure not to embarrass herself again. She squinted at the woman's name tag.

'Thankyou… Alex'. Piper smiled, her blue eyes stuck on the hot woman's dark green ones.

'Anything for a good looking customer' Alex said playfully, whilst turning to place the boxes back on the shelf with a stepladder.

Piper opened her mouth to speak but was lost for words. Was Alex flirting with her? But Piper couldn't flirt with a woman. She had never felt physically attracted to a woman before. She wasn't gay. Well, at least she thought so. Alex turned and winked at Piper, and without another word, walked off down the aisle. Piper could swear Alex was scanning her down earlier but she had played it so cool. _God, I need to go and speak to her. _Something had attracted her to Alex, though they shared few words, Piper felt butterflies in her stomach just by looking at her. And that voice, that voice was like melted chocolate. The way she smiled at Piper. Her wink.. _that's enough. Just because I think she's pretty doesn't mean I'm actually attracted to her in any way. _

'Piper!' Pollys voice came out of nowhere and made Piper jump, shaking herself out of her trance, and turned from looking down the aisle that beautiful Alex had disappeared from.

'Seriously Pipes! We've gotta go!'

'I'm sorry, I dropped the chocolates and they went everywhere but then this girl - this, really hot - you know what, never mind. I'm coming'

Polly shot Piper the classic 'I'm about to get pissed off at you' glance_, _which she simply ignored, smiling, and they walked to the checkout to pay for the box of chocolates that had caused Piper to encounter the sexy, flirty, beautiful woman named Alex. And that was all Piper knew about her.


	2. Chapter 2 - Hot Blonde Customer

**Thank you so so much for the positive comments on my first chapter guys! I really hope you like the second chapter, and it might be a bit short but i'm uploading the third chapter later on tonight! Continue with the reviews please! :) enjoy xo**

**Chapter 2 – Hot blonde customer**

As Alex Vause sat in her car waiting in traffic on the way home, she couldn't shake off the image of the amazingly hot blonde she'd met today at work. She turned the radio on and switched to something loud with a heavy bass. The traffic lights turned green and she pressed her foot down hard on the gas.

The blonde woman was cute. All shy and lost for words. Alex knew she could have an effect on women when she tried. But is this blonde woman even into other girls? Those eyes. Those piercing, sky blue eyes and those lips that curved into an amazing, cheeky smile. In all honesty, she wanted to ask the blonde customer out right there and then. But that wasn't how Alex Vause played. She was the cool one, the one that gets pursued. So why did this feel different? _I hope to God I can see that woman again. The hot blonde customer with no name._

'Nicky? You home?' Alex called for her housemate, slamming the door behind her and dumping her bag and her hoodie to the floor. She went straight to the fridge to crack open a cold beer, collapsing onto the couch. It had been a long day. A long, shitty day as usual. Apart from the encounter with the blonde customer- the only thing to brighten up her day.

'Vause. Lorna and I are off to Red's. The ghettos are gonna be there, it'll be hilarious. You in?'

Her frizzy haired house mate stood in the door way, arms crossed. Lorna appeared from behind her and kissed Nicky on the neck. Nicky grabbed her by the waist and did the same back, causing her to giggle like a little kid,

'Nick, stop it!' Lorna cried playfully.

'God you guys. Please. Get a room. Or even better, go out. I can at least have one night to myself where I don't have to put up with your lovesick shit' Alex took a sip of her beer, trying not to smile at the banter she knew she would get thrown right back at her.

'Ayyy, you know what Vause, maybe it's time you met someone. You know, someone you can actually keep for more than a week?' She and Lorna laughed but Alex tried to conceal her smile.

'Well..'

'Well what?!' Nicky could figure Alex out so well, and she was one of the very few that could. 'I smell pussy. Pussy for Vause. Am I right?' Nicky raised her eyebrows and folded her arms, Lorna's arms wrapped round her waist from behind and her head on Nicky's shoulder.

'Ooooh is there really someone Alex?' Lorna asked excitedly.

'No. Just I met this really hot woman today at the store. Like, not just hot..beautiful. And I think we had a kinda..moment.' Alex couldn't believe the words coming out of her own mouth. Was she really admitting to this?

'Wow. And what else? Name? Number?'

'Didn't ask'

'Damn, she's got you all love-struck and you can't even build up the courage to ask for her number?'

'Please. I work there. She's a customer. And I'm not love-struck. But I'm not exactly going to be helping her with her groceries and suddenly be like, hey, I know I've never met you before but you're hot. Here's my number so we can hook up. She's probably straight anyway' Alex pushed her glasses up her nose and looked down at her beer bottle, fiddling with the sticker on it.

'Why the hell not?! And you don't know till you try' Nicky laughed, and went to grab her keys off the kitchen counter. Alex smiled but didn't answer, Nicky made it sound so easy but for some reason Alex didn't know how to approach this hot customer again without it coming across as weird. 'Well let's just hope you meet this chick again cause you sure need to get out more. You're slacking, Vause.' and with that, Nicky ruffled Alex's hair before grabbing her coat and walking out the door.

'Fuck you Nicky' Alex laughed.

'Later, loser!' Nicky walked out the door of their flat, Lorna smiled at Alex, winked playfully and followed Nicky, the door closing behind them.

_Man I really hope I do see her again. Just to know her name. Just to know a little bit more about that fucking hot blonde customer._


	3. Chapter 3 - Date

**About to start chapter 4, think I know where this is gonna go! Don't worry, much more exciting stuff coming up :) thanks for your comments, they're so helpful and encouraging! xo**

**Chapter 3 - Date**

Piper was glad to leave Polly's baby shower. There was only so much of Polly's friends going on about breast feeding and diaper changing that she could take. With Polly so close to her due date, Piper had agreed to take complete charge of their shared bath products business which was proving stressful, and before the baby shower she'd spent all day having conference calls with Barney's executives. She needed to go for a drink somewhere to relax her from a tiring day. Piper thought about inviting some one round to drink with, which used to be Larry until he became a complete arsehole. _Thank god I finished things with that boring, self centered man. _No, it would be nice to have some time to herself on a Friday night. She opened the fridge in her small apartment kitchen hoping there would be some wine left. _Damn it. _No alcohol to be seen. Her brother must've drank it all when he came round with his new fiancé.

'Looks like it's a trip to the store then' she said to herself, closing the fridge and picking up her keys. _Alex. _The first thing that came into her head was the beautiful woman who had helped her and quite possibly flirted with her the last time Piper was at the store. Ever since Monday, the day she met this frustratingly attractive woman, Piper could not seem to push the image of her out of her head. _Stop being silly, you're being ridiculous, you don't know this girl at all. _She kept telling herself, but in the back of her mind she desperately wanted to bump into Alex again.

With no sign of Alex, Piper couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed even though she knew she was being stupid. She walked to the checkout and put two bottles of white wine down, fumbling in her bag for her purse.

'White wine hey? They both for you or are you accommodating somebody tonight?' a familiar voice sent butterflies to Piper's stomach. Alex. She smiled and turned round to see the black haired beauty stood behind the till.

'Hey there! No, they're for me sadly...i'm on my own tonight and it's been a long day...'

_God she looks so hot. _Alex was trying so hard to play it cool. But this woman looked amazing, in her tight black skinny jeans, low cut baggy white t-shirt, sleeves hanging off her shoulder showing black bra straps and her hair tied back into a cute ponytail. Alex was weirdly glad to hear that she didn't have a date tonight. _Come on Alex, you need to do something here._

Alex picked up one of the bottles of wine and scanned it through the till. 'It's been a long day for me too. I could do with a drink tonight.' Alex lowered her voice to a whisper, 'Nothing worse working in fucking Walmart on a Friday night. Or just working here in general.'

Piper giggled. _She's so cute when she laughs like that_. 'What time do you get off?' she chimed.

'I got another hour. Then I'm free. Why do you ask?' she raised an eyebrow.

'Just- just wondering. That's not too bad.'

'Are you kidding me, one hour goes ridiculously slow on a Friday night. But I wish I was sharing those bottles with you. I'm more of a beer and vodka kind of gal but I can do white wine.' Alex joked.

Piper froze, lost for words again. _Why did she have to say that kind of thing? _It confused Piper so much, _is she flirting or just being friendly?_

Alex could see that the hot blonde didn't know how to react to her comment. But she could see her smiling and blushing so she decided to carry on flirting, bagging the bottles of wine.

'That'll be 6 dollars 50 then.' She leaned forward towards the blonde in a slightly seductive manner. 'Please.' She watched her rummage through her purse, making Alex laugh to herself. 'Hope you didn't knock off another whole shelf of food on your way round this time, clumsy' she said jokingly, biting her lip. The blonde looked up from her purse, cheeks pink, with a cute little smirk on her face. Alex noticed the blonde's eyes move to down to her cleavage for a few seconds. Alex did the same, exploring the beautiful blonde's body up and down with her eyes. After a few seconds of silence, which was definitely a 'moment' between the two, the blonde woman blinked, cleared her throat and handed the money over. Alex took the money from her slowly, smirking and raising an eyebrow. After the silent moment between them occurred, it was clear to Alex that the blonde was attracted to her in some way, so she gathered the courage to get to know her more, and broke the silence.

'You know, I know a great place in town to have a drink on a Friday night. You should come check it out.'

Was Alex asking her out? She was being really flirty, and she was so fucking hot. There was something irresistible about her. But _why? _Piper wasn't into women! But this was something completely different. There was something there between them, and Piper didn't know what, but she was willing to find out. She knew she needed to stop being so coy and show she wasn't unfamiliar with flirting.

'Oh yeah, where's that?'

'Why don't you find out' Alex whispered, leaning closer, quickly checking to make sure her colleagues were all busy at their tills, and gave Piper a wink. Piper blushed again, picking up the bag. 'I didn't catch your name.'

'It's Piper.'

_Cute name._

'Piper. Pretty name.'

'Thank you, Alex' Piper smiled, trying her best to stay as cool as Alex was. She picked up her bags.

'How about you go home, get started on that wine, and then meet me for a drink at around 9? I'll text you the address of the bar. It's my favourite place.' Piper raised her eyebrows at the word 'text' and Alex looked around in case the manager was coming over to have a go at her for not doing work. Even though it was always dead on a Friday night. Piper was only one of about 5 customers in the store. She ripped a piece of an old receipt and scribbled down her number, subtly handing it to Piper while keeping her eyes on lookout for her colleagues.

Piper bit her lip, trying to conceal the fact that she was so excited to text Alex. _Wow. I'm really doing it. I'm going on a date with a girl. _

'Sounds good, I'm game.' Piper bit her lip.

_Hot. _Alex thought. 'Good. Can't wait, kid.' The two looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds but what felt like a lot longer, when a loud voice broke the moment between them. It was Alex's manager.

'Fucks sake' she muttered under her breath. He was shouting at someone, and then looked over at Alex and Piper. They quickly looked back at each other.

'Thank you for your help' Piper smiled, acting like just another grateful customer.

Alex smiled the smile that Piper found irresistible as she played along with it, 'Anytime, mam. Come again.' Piper laughed quietly and turned around, walking out, Alex's eyes on her the whole way.

_Piper. I'm going on a date with Piper._

Alex's evening had just got better than an evening at work could ever be, and the smile she had given Piper before she left was stuck to her face.

'Alex! Clean up on aisle 6 please. Now' Andy, her boss, broke her out of her Piper daydream, and she rolled her eyes.

_Only an hour and a half to go. _


	4. Chapter 4 - Red's

**I literally wrote this all in one go before bed haha so sorry for any mistakes. Continue with your reviews, they're really helpful! H xo**

**Chapter 4 - Red's**

**Alex: Red's bar. Smith's Avenue. 9pm. Best not be late ;)**

**Piper: Cool. Is that a threat? ;)**

**Alex: Maybe. You'll have to find out...**

**Piper: I'm never late for dates x**

**Alex: This is a date?**

**Piper: Asshole**

**Alex: hahaa see u there clumsy**

Piper grinned at her phone. She was so excited to see Alex. After finishing her simple makeup, she opened the wardrobe and sighed. 'Casual or semi casual', she said aloud to herself. 'Ah.' Piper picked out a simple tight black dress that she knew she looked good in but wouldn't look like she was making too much of an effort.

_9:15. '_Shit.' She'd spent too long looking in the mirror and deciding what shoes to wear, and when Polly started calling her, she quickly declined as she rushed out the door to her taxi. Polly had been bothering her all day trying to persuade her to come to the next pre natal class, but Piper couldn't spend another 2 hours in a confined space full of hormonal, soppy pregnant women. Tonight all she could think about was Alex, and she was about to spend the next several hours spending time with that amazingly attractive woman and she could not be more excited.

'Nick, do you really have to be here. Isn't there some place else you guys can hang out for tonight?' Alex moaned, sat on the bar stool, beer in one hand and her head in the other.

'What, you afraid I'm gonna cramp your style Vause? Tell this chick all your embarrassing stories?' Nicky smirked. Red's was buzzing tonight, full of downtown locals and Russians who enjoyed coming here because this bar sold the best Russian food and drink in town, along with almost every other drink you could think of. Nicky sat on the bar stool next to Alex, stuffing her face with fries. Lorna was playing a game of pool in the corner of the bar with Big Boo, the new tough lesbian in town who spent most of her time in Red's, and their 'ghetto' friends as Nicky called them, Taystee, Poussey and Cindy.

'You know what just as long as you and your girlfriend stay at the other end of this room I won't kick your ass.'

'Oh, shame, I was excited to meet blondie. She might be offended if you don't introduce her to your friends.' Nicky said playfully with a wink. She stuffed the last few fries in her mouth. Alex looked over at the group of girls playing pool. Someone had just won the game, probably Taystee because she was stood on a chair doing her classic dance moves she does whenever she wins something. They were making so much noise, but they didn't care that people looked at them. Alex was used to this on a Friday night, but wasn't looking forward to telling Piper that they were who she usually hangs out with, in case they weren't the type of people Piper would hang out with. She wanted her to like them.

'Just don't embarrass me 'kay Nichols.'

Nicky held up her hands. 'Alright, alright. Look at you getting all touchy. Hey, never seen you like this over a first date okay I'm just adapting. Who are you and what have you done with Alex Vause?!'

Alex ignored her flatmate's teasing and took a sip of beer. Red appeared out of the kitchen, handing Gina, the waitress, a plate of bar snacks.

'Table 4, Gina.' She nodded towards a table of rowdy men. 'And tell them to get their disgusting feet off my tables.'

'Yes mam!'

Red stood behind the bar, turning her attention to Alex and Nicky. She began wiping a beer glass with a tea towel. 'Is this a threesome hook up?'

'What?' Alex answered, looking back from the door that she eagerly hoped Piper would walk through any second.

'I thought you had a date Alex.'

'I do. But Nicky shouldn't be here. Wait, Nick, do you wanna go tell the rest of the world I've got a date tonight?!'

Nicky threw her head back and laughed. 'Woah! Would ya look at this Red. Alex getting all nervous about her date! She's definitely in love Red, can ya see it?' Nicky whacked Alex on the back.

'Leave her alone Nicky, go play with your friends. Enough of the teasing.' Red waved her hand, gesturing Nicky towards the group of their loud friends. Nicky rolled her eyes, downed the rest of Alex's beer and walked off to the pool table, probably to put her hands all over Lorna.

'Thanks Red.' Alex chuckled.

'Another beer for you. And I promise I won't say a word to your date. My lips are sealed.' She handed Alex another bottle of beer and winked, walking back into the kitchen. Alex knew what she was talking about, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. It was only her first date with Piper and she didn't need to tell her everything about herself on the first date. _I don't want to lie to her. I can't fuck things up. I will tell her, just not tonight._

'Hey there.' A cute voice caught Alex's attention and she turned around, a smile already plastered on her face. At the sight of the blonde in front of her, Alex bit her lip, imagining all the things she would do to that woman if she brought her back to her place this second. _Damn she looks hot. Her ass looks so fucking good in that dress. Wow._

'You made it. But you're late.' Alex said, trying to sound serious.

Piper chuckled, 'Or you're just early.' She teased.

'Touché. Come on, what d'you want to drink?'

'I think I'll have a margarita'

'In this weather?!'

'It's my favourite.' Piper chimed in a baby like voice. Alex looked beautiful. She wore a black vest top, showing tattoos that didn't usually attract Piper, but they looked sexy on Alex; a salt shaker on the back of her left shoulder, roses on her arm. She wore black ripped skinny jeans and a leather jacket. _Simple but perfect._

_'_Gina, can I get two margaritas please?' Alex called across the bar, Gina nodded and began making the cocktails immediately.

'I thought it was too cold out for a margarita?' Piper nudged Alex's elbow, taking a seat next to the black haired beauty at the bar.

'I trust your judgement.' Alex curved her mouth to the side, sending butterflies to Piper's stomach.

For the rest of the night, they chatted and laughed as if they'd known each other for years, both desperate to get to know one another. Piper met Alex's flat mates, Nicky and Lorna, who were together. She had also learned that Red, the owner of the bar, was Nicky's mother figure who had practically brought her up since she was a teenager, because Nicky had briefly worked at the bar after she quit school and her mother didn't care about her, so Red swooped in and took over her role.

Despite Alex's warnings, Nicky and Lorna came and introduced themselves, but they managed to restrain from telling any embarrassing stories or about her ex-girlfriends. Like Red had promised, she did nothing but introduce herself to Piper and gave her another cocktail on the house.

Piper liked how they were all so close. Like a family. She already felt like she was part of their circle and felt completely relaxed as she sat on the sofas in the chill out area, her head on Alex's shoulder. Although they were both pretty drunk, it felt right.

Alex had her hand on Piper's leg, feeling happier than she'd ever felt next to another woman. Taystee was telling them all a story about a dream she'd had where she had barbeque sauce all over her body or something. Alex was laughing along with everybody, but not really listening. She looked down at her date's angelic face, and Piper smiled up at her, looking into her eyes. Alex smiled gently back, and their eyes stayed locked for several minutes until Nicky loudly interrupted.

'Love birds. I think it's a good idea to have your next date at our place. Alex is a good cook Piper. You'll love it.' She looked at Alex and winked, knowing very well that Alex _really _liked Piper.

Lorna, sat on Nicky's lap, clapped excitedly, 'Oh she's a really good cook. She doesn't cook for all her girlfriends but you're definitely an exception Piper.'

'Wow guys.' Alex shot them a look that told them to shut the fuck up. Piper sat up, enjoying the banter that seemed to be embarrassing the usually cool-as-hell Alex.

'I'd love to. I think that's a great idea. Alex isn't that a great idea?' She turned to Alex, and slapped her thigh. Alex raised her eyebrow in surprise.

'You wanna come to ours?'

'Yeah.' Piper gave Alex a look she knew she could never resist even if she had wanted to.

'Fine, I'll cook for you.'

'Yay!'

'See I told you! You're the exception Piper; you've cracked the uncrackable Alex Vause!' Lorna put her hand on Piper's shoulder and squeezed it as she and the rest of the girls walked over to the bar, leaving them both alone.

Piper turned to Alex, still in the teasing mood that Nicky and Lorna had started. 'The uncrackable huh?'

'Stop it' Alex chuckled, pulling Piper towards her, and Piper leaned her head back on Alex's shoulder, who wrapped her arms around her and rested her head on Piper's.

'I've had a really good time tonight, kid.'

'Me too.' Piper said softly. She could have fallen asleep in Alex's arms right there, the perfect end to a perfect night. She knew that she had feelings for Alex, a lot more than she'd ever had for any previous boyfriends.

With Piper in her arms and head on her shoulder, it felt right, and Alex was sure this was the first time she'd ever felt this way about anyone. The date couldn't have gone any better for either of them, and words weren't needed to express how they felt about each other. They stayed there till the early morning, Red allowing only her girls to stay past closing time, drinking and laughing and bonding even more, learning about each other, Alex hadn't realised how clever Piper was and how much potential she could have if she didn't work for her friend Holly or whatever she was called. _Beautiful and intelligent_.

When Alex could see Piper had drank enough and needed to sleep, she called her a taxi and waited with her until it arrived. 'Thank you for tonight, Alex. I had an incredible time. Hope you meant it when you said you'll cook for me on Sunday.'

'Wouldn't miss it for the world.' Alex laughed, but she was being serious. She kissed Piper's soft cheek goodbye, making Piper blush slightly, and smile that cute little smile. She stumbled into the taxi and Alex watched it drive off. _Wow. What a fucking amazing woman._ She already began planning in her head what to cook for Piper on Sunday. Nicky had suggested something not so stupid for once, and Alex hoped she would get the chance to kiss Piper next time, strongly restraining herself from grabbing her face just then and kissing her amazing lips, not wanting to take advantage of her when she was drunk. She wanted Piper to be completely sober for that.

_I really hope she wants me the way I want her._


	5. Chapter 5 - Dinner and Hawaii

**Thanks for all the positive comments, they mean a lot! Also don't worry if you have a critical comment, they're always welcome and really helpful to me! The views on the sex details/smut were pretty obvious so i'm working on that for the next chapter, trying to perfect it at the moment so here's a kind of filler chapter, which is pretty important for the story. Enjoy! xo**

Chapter 5 – Dinner and Hawaii

Alex wiped her eyes with her sleeve as the stinging from the onions she was chopping began to kick in. 'Fucks sake' she murmured. Her glasses were propped on the top of her head, pushing her glossy black hair off her face. She kept glancing at the cookbook, unsure if she was even doing it right. _Damn it Lorna why did you have to give me the hardest fucking recipe to follow. _It was some complicated Italian recipe that Lorna's grandma gave to her, but Piper would be here any minute and Alex wanted to cook her something that she actually knew would taste good. _Fuck it. Stir fry it is. _She yanked open the door of the fridge and picked random vegetables to throw in with some noodles. A knock at the door filled her with excitement. _Piper. _She wiped her hands on her apron and went to open the door. There stood Piper, her beautiful smile showing those snow white teeth, holding a bottle of white wine and a bunch of DVDs.

'Hey stranger'

'Hey'

'Come in, mi casa es su casa'. Alex walked back to the vegetables in the frying pan, stirred them, and watched Piper as she took her jacket off.

'Hey, I brought DVDs, and I know beer is your favourite, but you know, white wine was in my fridge, and I didn't have time to go out because of the fucking barney's fucking execs fucking up.'

'Woah kid, bad day?' Alex asked with concern, mouth full of pepper. Piper sighed and fell back onto the sofa. _Making herself comfortable. I like it._

'No- yes. Yes it has been a bad day, a tiring, awful, shitty day. I'm not used to having to do this much for the business, it's like yes Polly I'll take over while you have the baby, but I do have a life you know? The Barney's staff are just such _assholes_!' Piper stressed the last word and Alex couldn't help but laugh.

'Look at you getting all fired up. I get it though. Work can be shit. Really shit. But forget about that for tonight, we've got stir fry, movies and Reese's peanut butter cups.'

Piper smiled, 'Ohh you remembered the Reese's! But seriously I need to stop eating so many calories.'

'I'm sure we can find a way to burn them off' Alex looked at Piper, smiling that smile she does, one eyebrow raised. Piper smiled back, cheeks pink, not saying anything because she knew exactly what Alex meant. _Shit, I feel so rude, coming in here talking about myself, fuck sake Piper._

'Anyway, your flat is fucking amazing! You, three did well to find this place' Piper said whilst walking around the kitchen-come-dining area, all open plan with a white and black theme. She smiled at a photo on the mantel piece of Alex and Nicky sat on a motorbike, tongues out, looking completely carefree. _That's how I feel when I'm with her. _She looked back at Alex, who was placing two bowls of food on the table.

'Yah, we were pretty lucky with this flat. It was just Nick and I at first, but Lorna was practically living here anyway so we just moved her stuff in. Dinner is served!' Alex held out her hand to Piper who took it and laughed as Alex led her to her seat and pulled it out for her as if they were at a posh formal dinner.

'Oooh, this smells good!'

'Eat up'

Three hours went by and Alex and Piper were curled up on the sofa together, watching 'The Notebook' which Alex thought was ridiculously soppy but it was one of Piper's favourites so she didn't mind. Alex slowly moved her hand onto Piper's, unsure of her reaction as they'd only had one glass of wine each and were both pretty sober. Her hand was soft and warm, she didn't flinch, and their fingers interlaced. Piper's head was still fixed on the tv screen, but Alex's eyes were on her. _You need to tell her. Tell her that you think she's fucking amazing and that you've never felt this way about anyone before ._She'd never said anything like this to any girls she'd been with before, because those girls weren't Piper. _Hot, funny, cute, intelligent, amazing Piper._ She squeezed the blonde's hand, and Piper slowly turned her head, sea blue eyes immediately locking with Alex's. It was as if words didn't have to be said. No one else mattered, no one else understood. They had some kind of connection that was unbreakable from the moment they met. _Say it, fucking coward. I can't let another important part of my life walk out, especially not her. I need to know how she feels, to know she'll be sticking around, before I tell her the other thing that she needs to know, that has to come from me. So just tell her how you feel first._

'Pipes-' She opened her mouth, ready to speak, ready to say the words she'd been rehearsing in her head all this time, hoping they'd come out right, because she is _not _the one that usually says this stuff.

A loud thumping broke the moment, lights turning on, and in stumbled Lorna and Nicky, chanting; 'HAWAII, HAWAII, HAWAII!'

'AYY' Nicky grabbed Lorna and they kissed passionately, then turned to a startled Alex and Piper, who had sat straight up from their perfect position.

'Love birds. Guess who just won a trip to Hawaii?!'

'Wow you really have drank too much.' Alex threw an unimpressed, pissed off look to them as she got up, walking over to the table to clear up the food. _Lucky if I don't throw the fucking bowls at them._

Lorna and Nicky began chanting loudly again, and Piper rubbed her eyes, yawning, 'You won a trip to Hawaii?'

'We sure did.' Nicky squeezed Piper's face between her hands.

'We entered the draw a couple months ago and they announced the winners at Lola's bar tonight. Hawaii bitches!' Lorna squealed excitedly. The couple hugged again, dancing on each other like crazy animals.

'Well done guys...' Piper began to congratulate but her words trailed off, instead focusing her attention on Alex, who looked pretty pissed off, slamming the cupboard doors and throwing things about. _ Is she pissed at me or at them? She's so hard to work out. _But it was only two seconds ago that Alex was holding her hand, so she approached her anyway, in an attempt to make her smile again the way that sent butterflies to Piper's stomach.

'Hey, I didn't know you liked the notebook that much, did they ruin it for you?' She rubbed Alex's arm and just her touch made Alex's heart rate increase. _No, they ruined my fucking chance at telling you how I feel. And that I want you to stay here tonight. _

'Pfft, please. I only put that movie on cause you kept nagging me. I don't even find Rachel McAdams that hot.'

'Wow. You're the first person I've met to not find Rachel McAdams hot, not even a little bit though?' Piper asked jokingly, holding Alex's hand and swinging it back and forth like a kid.

Alex leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper, 'you're hotter.'

Piper blushed, biting her lip slightly. _Damn, she's so good at this._ Nicky walked over, interrupting the playful flirting between the two, with a Hawaiian flower necklace thrown around her neck.

'Aloha lesbians. Lorna and I are going to the bedroom, to celebrate. So I'll see you twos later.' She winked, then paused before walking off. 'Oh, Chapman, we're off for a month so you know, you could maybe keep Vause here company for me?'

Piper giggled and Alex rolled her eyes. 'Night Nichols, you fucking asshole. And congrats.'

'Thanks, you fuck face. Congrats yourself!' She ruffled Alex's hair and winked again, more dramatically this time, before disappearing off into the hallway. All that could be heard were muffled giggles coming from Lorna and Nicky's room. Both ignored Nicky's teasing comment.

'I'm going to be honest, I'm really jealous of them' Piper laughed.

'Me too. But I won't be if you keep me company when they go.' Alex poked Piper's waist teasingly, she pushed her finger away, letting out her cute laugh.

'Well if I'm gonna stay here for a month, I'll need a house tour.' Piper said with puppy dog eyes, hoping she would be staying in Alex's room tonight. _I'm about to do it. For the first time in my life I'm about to make a move on another woman. On Alex. _Piper felt nervous, but at the same time she had never been so sure that she wanted Alex. So much.

Without hesitation, Alex grabbed her hand and pulled her through the hallway. 'Come on then.'

Piper could sense that Alex would eventually lead her to her bedroom, that was going to happen inevitably. So, she decided to speed up the process, falling back into the door next to Nicky's. The door opened as she pushed her back onto it, and she grabbed Alex's hands along with her.

'Oops, is this the bedroom?' She asked playfully, putting on a baby voice, although her deep lust showed through her tone. She wanted Alex so badly, even though she'd never been with a woman in this way before, she just knew that whatever Alex had to offer, she was going to take it.

_Fuck, this woman. _Alex took a deep breath, trying to repress her burning desire to launch at Piper and eat her fucking mouth off. She raised her eyebrows and said quietly, 'Yes, Piper, this is my bedroom.'


	6. Chapter 6 - Alex's Bedroom

**Hey guys, let me know what you think of this, as always, all comments are welcome. Keep up with the reviews! xo**

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Alex's Bedroom**

Before Alex could say another word, Piper grabbed her by the head and their lips smashed together, fiercely but passionately, pulling her smooth black hair, and Alex did the same, running her hands through Piper's hair and then moving them down, desperately exploring the hot blonde's body. She bit Piper's lip causing her to let out a quiet moan, and all the only sound was the sound of their racing breaths. Before they knew it, they had yanked each other's tops off, both in their bras. In one movement, Alex pushed Piper onto her bed; leaning over her, hands placed either side of Piper's head. They looked into each other's eyes. No one and nothing could interrupt this precious, intense moment between them. 'Ever done this with a girl before?' Alex whispered. Her husky voice sent chills down Piper's spine, as if what they were about to do was dangerous and forbidden. Her heart thumped against her chest like it wanted to break through her ribs. _Fuck. _She felt like prey to a hungry predator. Piper was so turned on and hot she couldn't speak, so just shook her head. 'So can I be your first?' Alex smiled, running her hand softly down Piper's thigh. Surprisingly to Alex, Piper decided to make the first move, slowly undoing Alex's bra, letting it drop onto the duvet. She began kissing Alex's neck, who closed her eyes, trying to supress a moan. Piper took Alex's breasts in her hands and gently massaged them, her head still buried in her shoulder, planting soft kisses behind her ears. 'Fucking hell Pipes.' With ragged breath, Alex moved from her position, and Piper lay back onto the bed, letting her do whatever she wanted. Her entire body felt weak under the power of Alex's animal desire. Alex fiercely undid Piper's bra and brushed her hands across her body, squeezing her ass with her hands, moving them to her hips where she softly pressed her lips, causing Piper to breathe heavily. She was craving for Alex to be inside her, and Alex craved to explore Piper's body completely. Without a word, Alex pulled Piper's pants off and slid them down her legs. She pushed her knee against Piper's damp underwear, and Piper began to grind her hips against it. _Shit. I'm going to come. _She felt a jolt between her legs as Alex then slid off Piper's underwear, and by now she was shaking with arousal, Alex's tongue running teasingly down her torso. Then, Alex laced her long fingers through Piper's blonde hair, pulling her legs to wrap them round her neck. She ran her tongue up and down the inside of Piper's thighs teasingly, and a groan escaped Piper's mouth.

'Fuck, Alex, please-'

'Are you ready baby?'

With a silent nod of Piper's head, Alex's warm tongue delved inside her, moving in slow circles, and Piper threw her head back, unable to hold off a loud moan, 'oh fuck, oh Alex.' Her breath caught in her throat, she couldn't speak. Alex looked up, and their eyes fixed on each other. Alex was so turned on right now, seeing Piper desperate for more. She then ran her hand down the inside of Piper's thigh towards her soaked opening, watching her close her eyes in pleasure as her long caressing fingers pushed inside slightly. 'Fuck me, Alex.' Piper whispered, having lost all sense of anything else but her _need_ for Alex.

'Oh don't worry, I intend to,' she whispered with an almost ferocious tone, in desperate need to feel all of Piper.

Alex increased the speed of her moving fingers, pushing them harder and further inside. Piper let out moan after moan, her hips rocking in rhythm to Alex's hand. Her body convulsed in pleasure. It was so intense, the best sex she had ever felt. Her whole body shook as Alex continued, whilst kissing and biting her hips, and as Piper's orgasm washed over her, she felt lost as if she was in another world, as if in those moments, she and Alex were the only things that existed in time and space.

* * *

After having hours of the sex they had both been lustfully anticipating since the moment they met, Alex and Piper lay side by side, facing one another with only a sheet covering them from the waist down. Alex stroked Piper's hair, pushing it behind her ear, and her forest green eyes looked into Pipers sky blue ones.

'Admit it. I'm awful in bed.' She joked softly.

'Terrible.' Piper smiled back, her eyes heavy.

'I could tell how much you hated it, shouting my name and-'

Piper put her finger on Alex's lips then, and Alex stopped smiling, seeing that Piper was about to say something serious.

'You know, I've never felt...I've never been with a woman but…the way I feel about you. It's different. When I'm with you, I feel like nothing else matters, but you.

Alex smiled, so pleased to hear Piper utter those words. 'I know. I've been wanting to say this to you all evening, Pipes. I've never felt about anyone the way I feel about you, and I…I love you.' Alex traced her fingers along Piper's jawline, her eyes moving from her eyes to her lips.

'You do?' Piper's face lit up, and she moved her face closer to Alex's, their noses touching.

Alex nodded. 'But now I've told you _and_ shown you,' she laughed quietly.

Piper pushed Alex's shoulder gently but couldn't help but laugh too.

'I love you too.' She placed her lips softly onto Alex's. And from then on they became inseparable.


	7. Chapter 7 - 'Alex-sitting' and

**Thanks so much for the follows, favourites and reviews, you're all great!** **H xo**

**Chapter 7 – 'Alex-sitting' and discovering the truth.**

_3 months later._

Piper was so happy to call Alex Vause her girlfriend. She loved her so much it was almost surreal, and no relationship had ever made her feel so alive. Alex had taken her on a romantic date to the beach for a picnic, and had then asked if Piper would be her girlfriend. It wasn't often people saw the soppy, sweet side of Alex Vause, as Nicky had pointed out, but Piper brought out that side to her and she loved it.

She knocked loudly on the door, incase Alex was listening to that loud irritating bass music she likes, then walked back to the main door of the flat block, hauling her large suitcases with her. _Thank god they're on the ground floor. _It looked as if she was moving in permanently, when she was only staying for 4 weeks. Alex opened the door and wedged a door stop underneath it as Piper walked past holding a box of food.

'You do know we have food here right? I wasn't planning on starving you.'

'I know. I just thought I'd bring some treats along' Piper chimed, setting the box onto the counter.

'You didn't have to do that Pipes. But treats are always welcome.' Alex said in her husky voice, pulling Piper by the waist towards her. 'You know, first week of living together. Wanna christen the bed?' She winked and licked her lips, Piper giggled and kissed her on the cheek.

'I'd love to. But Polly's helping me bring my things in! Plus she has the baby with her. You have to see him Alex, he's the cutest thing!'

Alex raised her eyebrow. 'I don't know why you need extra help bringing a few suitcases into my flat. Are my muscles not good enough for you?' she joked, kissing Piper on the neck.

'It was a good excuse for you to finally meet her.' Piper laughed, Alex's kisses tickling her neck.

Polly knocked on the open door and stepped in, Piper pulling herself away from her and Alex's intimate position.

'Hey! You must be Alex!' She shook Alex's hand and with the other, placed the baby carrier on the floor. 'I've heard so much about you. But of course, Piper's never introduced me to you, she's always been so bad at this kind of thing!' _Yeah, wonder why I haven't, because you love to embarrass me in front of everyone I date._

'Good to meet ya holly.' Alex said, shaking Polly's hand firmly.

Polly looked from Alex to Piper. 'It's Polly, actually...'

'Right. Polly hobby. I'll go get the rest of your bags.' She kissed a smirking Piper on the cheek and walked out to the car. Polly's eyes followed her out, and Piper could see she was about to start one of her rants, so quickly began unpacking her things.

'Are you sure this is a good idea? Moving in after being together for 3 months?'

Piper let out a loud sigh. 'Poll, for the hundredth time. I'm not moving in with her. Lorna and Nicky have gone to Hawaii. For a month. And I'm just..Alex sitting.' She grinned to herself, repeating the phrase Alex had called it.

'Okay but is she really your type? Like come on, that was rude back there.'

Piper turned to face Polly, two bottles of Alex's favourite beer in her hands. 'I think you're over exaggerating, Holly.' Piper said with a sarcastic tone. 'Is this because I'm dating a woman?'

'No, it's because you're dating an asshole. A rich asshole, god knows how she can afford to live here. You know what I'm just looking out for you, you don't have to follow my advice.'

'Poll, come on, you've only just met her. Give her a chance. Besides, your advice is to follow my heart, well, that's what I'm doing. I _really _like her Polly. So could you just please try and be nice?'

'Fine. But you guys better be babysitting for us some time this month.'

Piper rolled her eyes and laughed, prompting Polly to help her unpack rather than rambling on.

* * *

A few days into living with Alex, Piper lay on the couch, reading the latest edition of Vogue. Peace and quiet in Alex's flat was a rare thing. It was 7 in the evening, lights dimmed, air conditioning on. She sipped from her green tea and flicked through endless amounts of beautiful models wearing ridiculously expensive but amazing clothes. She was house sitting for Alex whilst she did her evening shift at Walmart, she'd be back in an hour, and then they were going to order Chinese. It did always make her wonder how little shifts she had at Walmart, with a stingy pay cheque, she manages to live in an amazing penthouse flat and affords the kind of stuff she has. When it had come up in conversation, Alex had joked with her saying she has 'side businesses'. Then she said it was a large sum of money that her dad had left her when he walked out. _That's much more believable, I'm not going to worry about this because her money situation is obviously stable and I shouldn't be questioning it. _She did want to know how loaded Alex's dad must have been, but that was probably an inappropriate thing to ask since he walked out on her when she was young and didn't care much for her her whole life, and it had really affected her. _What an asshole._

A knock on the door made Piper jump. She looked at her watch. _Alex can't be home yet. She wouldn't knock either._ _Who could it be? And why didn't they ask to be buzzed in? No one could just walk into this block of penthouse flats._

Then the knocking turned into loud thumping. A man's voice boomed from the other side of the door. 'Open up! Vause! You in there?! We need to talk.' Piper began to panic, she had no idea why there was a man stood outside slamming his fist against the door, shouting Alex's name, and she felt vulnerable. 'Who- who is it?' She slowly and quietly grabbed a knife from the kitchen, and stood opposite the door, holding the knife out in front of her.

Suddenly, the door flung open, and Piper tried to scream but she was actually quite terrified and nothing came out her mouth. The men slammed the door behind them. _Shit. They have a key?!_

Two men stood opposite her, both well built, the one wearing tight white vests and ripped jeans, the other in a smarter white shirt and suit trousers, gold rings adorning his fingers. He looked like the dominant one out of the two, bald head, solid jawline and a hard face. His muscles bulged through his shirt, and he towered over Piper. The fact they said Alex's name earlier made her stomach turn, they looked like thugs. _What could Alex possibly have to do with these men?_ Her eyes caught the gun strapped to the holster round both the waist of the other man. Her hands began to shake as she held the knife at them. 'I'm gonna call the cops if you don't leave now!' She shouted, her voice trembling. The bald man laughed.

'Put that down. I only want to know where Alex is.'

'Alex isn't here so I suggest you now leave before I-'

'You wouldn't want to do that now blondie. Put that knife down. I'm not gonna hurt ya. We need to see . We'll just wait here till she arrives.' He gestured his friend to sit down on the sofa, and he did the same. They made themselves comfortable and Piper was really panicking now. Her heart raced. She glanced towards her phone on the kitchen table. There was no way she was going to reach that and call someone. She lowered the knife, but kept it tight in her sweating hand.

'Hey- you're the hot blonde I saw Alex with a few weeks ago. Bet she hasn't told you she works for me.' He grimaced. Piper froze at those words.

'That's right. I'm her boss. I don't usually come and talk to her myself but I thought a friendly visit would be required, especially as she now has a new..' He scanned Piper's body up and down with his snakey eyes. 'Girlfriend. You know how many girlfriends' she's had? Ay, Jack, hasn't Vause had a countless amount of girls just like blondie over here?' he called to the other man, eyes still on Piper. She felt extremely uncomfortable with his eyes on her. 'You're just another mule. She's waiting till she trusts you enough, and then she can use you till you're all used up.' With these words, the two men chuckled, as if Piper's relationship with Alex was a complete joke to them. She tried to hold in the tears, she was so scared of them, and what the bald man had just said hit her like a ton of bricks.

'Wh-what did you say?'

'Listen. We're Alex's friends and she's had a little slip up that we're simply..checking up on. Don't worry, she gave us the key.' He laughed slyly. Piper didn't like this man at all. In fact she hated him. He was disgusting.

It was as though he had tried to change the subject, but Piper didn't want to leave what he had just said alone. 'What did you mean by mule?'

'Shit. Is it not obvious?' the other man with a close shaved haircut sounded surprised.

'Don't tell her, Jack. Let Vause explain to her. She's obviously not told this chick anything. Now you just sit down quietly so we can wait for your girlfriend to get back.'

_Han't told me what? What hasn't she told me? _Piper wanted to continue questioning them but she was too scared, so she did as he said, not wanting to anger him in any way. She could feel that he was dangerous, and the gun was an obvious sign that they didn't like to mess around. She sat down on one of the dining chairs, closing her eyes. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away with her sleeve, not wanting to show these men that she was frightened. _What the fuck are they going to do to me? They can't be Alex's friends. Are they trying to kidnap me? Rape me? Hurt me? _So many thoughts whirled through her head, so many questions. The word '_mule'. 'She's waiting till she trusts you enough, and then she can use you.' _Piper desperately tried to ignore the words that he had said, though they continued to eat away at her. How would he know anything about her and Alex's relationship? He must be lying. Joking. But then he didn't seem to be the type of guy who jokes around. All she wanted was Alex to be back, so she could see how friendly she really was with these men.

'Honey I'm ho-' Alex's face of excitement to see piper quickly shifted to one of worry and concern, as her eyes scanned across the room, seeing the one thing she hoped she would never see. She dropped her things and rushed over to a scared looking piper, who was sat on a dining chair, tears streaming down her face.

'Pipes! Are you okay?' she hugged Piper, rubbing her shoulders, wiping her tears away with her hand and kissing her on the head.

Piper didn't move. Her facial expression stayed the same, staring at the two men on the sofa.

_Alex isn't shocked to see these men at all. She barely even looked at them. Which means that what they said must be true._ 'So you know these men.' Piper mumbled quietly, not looking Alex in the eyes.

'Yes. Wait- Jesus Kubra what have you been saying to her?! Why the fuck are you here?' Alex asked impatiently, surprised that her boss himself had turned up. _I could've sworn he was still in Dubai._

Kubra simply held his hands up, a sly smirk on his face. 'Nothing that you can't tell her yourself. And there's something I'd like to discuss with you properly, unless you don't mind blondie here listening in.' Jack laughed along with Kubra. _For fucks sake. Why did I give him that fucking key._

'I think it's your que to leave.' Alex said angrily, her body now all tensed up.

'Is it true what they said? Is it true?!' Piper raised her voice to an angry shout. She was so furious and upset at Alex that she didn't care who heard. Alex had given them that key. She _knew _these men. These violent men. By first name terms.

'Pipes, calm down.' Alex sat down next to Piper. She gently rubbed her shoulders again to comfort her, but she shrugged them off, standing up, arms folded. She looked down at the floor.

'Please Kubra, can you give us a minute.'

'I came here for-'

'I know what you're fucking here for and I told you it would be sorted by tomorrow now will you please just go!' she said, with a harsher tone in her voice.

'Fine. We'll be outside. You got 10 minutes.' Jack nodded at Alex as he followed a displeased Kubra out the door.

'Oh, he's giving you 10 minutes before he comes back and breaks into your flat again? Wow, Al. You really do fucking know them well.' Piper hissed, grinding her teeth.

Alex's heart sank. 'Listen, Piper. I was going to tell you-I just needed to find the right time to-'

'Jesus Christ Alex! The right time to tell me what?! That those men, those men would walk right through your fucking door, guns on them - you know how scared I was?! I thought they were going to kill me! And then they said- they said..' she couldn't finish her sentence, more tears filled her eyes, and her whole body trembled, still in shock, sitting back down again.

Alex hated seeing her like this, she wanted to cry as well. _This is all my fucking fault_. She walked over to hug piper but she was pushed away again.

'What did they say to you?!' She asked, desperate to know why her girlfriend didn't even want to touch her. Piper stood up.

'They said that you're just, just using me like every other girlfriend you've had! That I'm just another mule- a mule! A drug mule?' Piper waited to see if 'drug' was the right word, and Alex looked down to the ground with sorrowful eyes, not dismissing it. _No fucking way. _Piper's voice grew louder, she was shouting now. 'Is that what I am to you?! A fucking – a fucking drug mule for you to use and then drop? Let's not forget the fact that you _lied_ to me Alex! You're a fucking liar!'

She shoved Alex then, anger getting the better of her. Anger and frustration and hate, so many negative feelings towards the person she loved the most in the world, and it hurt.

'No pipes, no..' Alex's lips trembled, she didn't know how to put the words correctly that she wanted to say so badly.

'Listen to me, _please. _I am _not _using you. I love you. I would never do anything like that, I would never put you in danger you have to believe that!'

'What, so you did put these other girls in danger?!'

'No - no it's not like that!'

'And what are you, some kind of drug lord? God I am so stupid! So fucking stupid to believe that you had some fucking trust fund from your Dad! Bull shit Alex! What else have you lied to me about?'

'My Dad did leave me some money- but I was going to tell you, I was trying to find a way to tell you! I work for a drug cartel yes, but I'm not a drug lord I just import-'

'You just import?! Oh that makes everything okay then! That makes these dangerous men that broke into your flat and scared the fucking life out of me, O-fucking-kay doesn't it!' Piper screamed, holding back more tears, still shaken from the encounter she'd just had with those hideous men.

'Piper they wouldn't hurt you, I would never let them hurt you, please, I need you to calm down so I can explain-' she went to touch Piper's shoulder but Piper pushed her hand away.

'You've explained enough. You've scared me Alex. You've lied to me, and I need some time away from you.' She picked up her handbag and began walking towards the door, trying not to show how much this was hurting her, because she wanted Alex to know how much she'd fucked up.

Those words cut Alex like a knife. She almost choked on what she was about to say because Piper was everything to her and watching her turn on her like this was the most painful thing she'd experienced.

'Don't. Pipes, please can we talk about this-'

Piper ignored her, walked straight out, slamming the door behind her.

Alex put her hands behind her head. She wanted so badly to go after her, but she knew Piper, and she knew that she needed time to blow off some steam. _She'll be back soon. Sure she will. She always does this when we have arguments, and always ends up coming back to me. _But Alex waited up all night, and Piper never came back.


	8. Chapter 8 - Missing her

**Hey guys, new update :) Sorry to hear you're not happy with what's going on in the story right now, but you know what Alex and Piper are like, they always find a way of ending up back with each other! So don't worry haha, just think it's more realistic for there to be angst. Enjoy xo**

Chapter 8 –Missing her

A whole week had past and Alex hadn't heard a word from Piper. The days would drag by slowly and she would check her phone every 2 minutes for a text or call, watch out the window for Piper's face, and at night she'd sleep with a pillow next to her to hold because she struggled to sleep without the blonde by her side. Alex hated herself for not telling Piper everything from the beginning. If only she had got it all out in the open when they first met, none of this would have happened and she wouldn't be feeling this emptiness, like half of her was missing. Alex wasn't used to having someone as special as Piper in her life, someone there to share every secret with, someone she always wanted around. Not even Nicky, her best friend, knew much detail about her position in the cartel. Alex sat on her phone looking at her lock screen for the thousandth time that day, a picture of her and Piper together, Piper's face lit up looking lovingly at the brunette who was kissing her cheek. The same thought's had been whirling through her head the whole week. _She thinks I'm using her_. _She felt threatened where she was meant to feel the safest, with me._ _I'm a fucking useless girlfriend. She doesn't deserve me_.

* * *

Piper sat at the table in the diner, staring at the lock screen on her phone of her and Alex.

'Pipes?' Polly, who was sat opposite clicked her fingers in front of Piper's face, forcing her to look up. 'Are you even listening to me? You know what, I am going to take that phone from you if you look at it one more time.' Piper sighed and put her phone in her bag. She wasn't in the mood for socialising; she hadn't been since her fight with Alex. To make things worse, Polly had talked her into letting Larry come for a coffee with them, even though she knew very well that Piper didn't really like him but Polly loved trying to get people to kiss and make up. Plus, Pete was away at work for a couple of days leaving her alone with the baby again which meant her attention was completely focused on Piper, something she didn't usually enjoy but at least it was a distraction. Piper looked down at baby Finn, sleeping in his carrier on the chair next to her. _Man, wish I could just sleep all the way through this entire day. Maybe it would go quicker and my head wouldn't be full of so many fucking frustrating thoughts._

'Hey – Piper - could you at least smile? Look, I know you and Alex have had a fight and it sucks. But just for today can you please try and forget about it?'

_Is she kidding? How am I meant to forget about Alex? My fucking lying, drug dealing, frustrating, asshole girlfriend_. Alex, who was always on her mind even though she was trying so hard to hate her right now. She glanced down at her phone in her open bag, another 2 missed calls and a text from Alex.

**Please call me. I have to talk to you.**

She decided to turn off her phone to resist the temptation of replying to anything, when Larry came over with a tray of coffees in his hands.

'Cappuccino, Latte and a flat white for you Piper.'

'Thank you, Larry.' Piper tried her best to force a smile and use a tone that sounded like she wanted to be there. For a few minutes, silence hung in the air between the three of them, Polly's face looking desperate for one of them to start a conversation. _Jesus Christ Polly. Expecting me to be all happy clappy around my ex-boyfriend on top of the fact that I've had a massive fight with my girlfriend and not spoken to her for a week._

'So. Piper, how's it feel to no longer have to have the business all in your own hands?' _The business, seriously?_ _God he's boring. _Larry was making the effort, Piper could see that. But as she looked at him, she wondered what she was thinking when dating him. Almost getting engaged to him. Boring, safe, predictable Larry. _Nothing like Alex._

'It's great, actually.' Surely one sentence was enough effort.

Polly frowned at her then opened her mouth to speak, clearly fearing an awkward silence. _You asked for this Poll, don't expect anything more than awkwardness, _Piper said with her eyes. But Polly was only trying to cheer her up, and that's what best friends do. So with hesitation, Piper took a deep breath and tried to carry on the conversation, just for Polly.

'It's funny because I always thought I could deal with the meetings and schedules and the books and produce organisation all on my own. But it took all of that to realise Polly is so important to our business and I was struggling without her. I managed, though.'

Her best friend nodded at her as if to say thank you for actually speaking. She'd been staying with Polly the past week because she didn't want to be sulking at home on her own. Piper needed a distraction, and a chatty best friend with a cute new baby was a good one.

'You've done great, Pipes.'

Piper smiled then, happy that she had a best friend like Polly. Even though she was tremendously annoying at times, she did love her. She did a lot for Piper, more than given credit for; she had even gone over to Alex's by herself to get some of Piper's stuff which she really appreciated because she knew Alex wasn't the type of person Polly would have more than a 5 second conversation with.

Finn suddenly broke the silence with a loud cry, kicking his little feet in the air. Piper picked him up out of his carrier, held him against her chest and began rubbing his back.

'Oh baby, shh shh shhh.' After a few minutes he couldn't be settled, and she looked worryingly at Polly, wanting to hand him over because comforting him was as much as she knew how to do when it came to babies.

'Oh! Must be time for his change- I won't be a sec!' Polly took him from her and walked off to the bathroom. _God, could it be any more obvious that she's leaving us alone on purpose to get us to talk?_

'You'd make a great mum.' Larry half smiled, taking a sip of his coffee. _Ew_. The thought of having kids with Larry made Piper feel uneasy. 'What's up? You don't look too happy Pipes.' Although he was an asshole, Larry was always there for his friends and he did genuinely care about Piper, which she appreciated.

'No, I'm fine. Really.' She picked up a spoon and stirred her coffee, much more than it needed stirring.

'Well that's not true. You're miserable, I can see it written all over your face. Polly told me you had a fight with your…your girlfriend?'

Piper looked up. _He knows about Alex? Poll and her big mouth. Also why the fuck is he telling me I'd make a good mum if he knows I'm with a woman? He obviously doesn't think it's serious._

'I'll be honest, I never pinned you as the ''swinging both ways'' type.' He tried to make a joke, but Piper didn't laugh. _Swinging both ways? Really? _Then again she'd never really thought about what to label her sexual orientation. All she knew was that she liked_ hot_ people. _Alex Vause. S_he didn't want to speak about Alex. Especially not to Larry. Hearing Alex's name upset her, angered her. Sent a shot of pain through her chest. But it also sent butterflies to her stomach, because she still loved her, no matter how much Alex had fucked up.

'Well- yes. Yes, I have had a fight with my girlfriend, and it wasn't just a silly argument like we've had before.. it's a serious one, and I..I don't know what to do Larry I really don't because I love her and-' Piper felt a lump in her throat, tears prickling her eyes that she couldn't hold back. She was only just managing to get through the past week without seeing Alex's beautiful face, without hearing her soothing, husky voice and her sarcastic comments. She missed the way she pushed her glasses to the top of her head and raised her eyebrow. Feeling her arms around her at night. She knew it was her own decision to ignore her, but what was she supposed to do after everything Alex had kept from her. It was like there was a whole new part of who she was that Piper didn't know. The tears began to roll down her cheeks.

'Hey- hey.' Larry moved his hands across the table and placed them over Piper's. 'It's okay. Don't cry, Pipes. You can talk to me.'

Piper wiped her tears with her sleeve. She didn't know why, but she was opening up to Larry, and didn't mind him holding her hands. It felt good to have someone other than Polly listen to her. Someone who didn't know Alex at all. But she couldn't tell him anything more about their fight, the drugs. That was going too far.

* * *

Alex walked down the street towards her favourite corner store. She needed some cigarettes; they always made her feel better when Piper wasn't around to do that job. She put her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket and lifted the hood over her head in hope of avoiding the rain, when she passed the local diner and caught a beautiful familiar face in the corner of her eye. _Piper_. Alex's blood rushed at the sight of the gorgeous blonde she had missed so much. She was talking to someone sat opposite her at the table. She recognised him from photos that Piper had shown her before deleting them from her phone. _Fucking Larry_. Then, Alex noticed they were holding each other's hands. _She's letting him hold her hands?!_ _My Piper's hands. That I should be holding_.

A painful pang of jealousy hit her stomach. 'Fucking son of a bitch,' she murmured under her breath. She wanted nothing more than to burst in, walk over and punch him straight in the face. Why was Piper talking to her ex? Her slimy ex who treated her like shit. She stood there, not realising she was staring straight at them from the other side of the street, face riddled with jealousy. Suddenly, Piper turned to the left to face the window, looked down, and then doing a double take, looked back out the window again, her eyes catching Alex's. Alex looked straight into those sea blue eyes for a few moments, but when Piper didn't immediately move her hands away from her ex, it hurt.

Still looking into the brunette's green eyes, Piper pulled her hands away from Larry's, who looked in the same direction to see what she was staring at. Feeling tears well up, Alex put her head down and continued walking up the street, even though she desperately wanted to go into the diner and drag Larry away from her girlfriend before saying everything she'd planned to tell her. But Piper had been ignoring her, she was confiding in her ex-boyfriend and there was nothing Alex could do about it. She felt powerless.

'Sorry Larry I-' Piper got to her feet, eyes still on the street Alex had just disappeared from.

'Was that Alex?'

'No. Yes. Yes it was.'

Polly then reappeared with Finn who was fast asleep again. 'Look who's all clean and smelling fresh!'

Before Polly could place the baby back on Piper's lap, she was stood up, quickly putting on her jacket.

'Pipes? Are you oka-'

'Thanks for the coffee, Poll. But I gotta go. I'll see you back at your place later okay?' and without another word, Piper walked out the door. After Alex. She didn't know why, it was like she was a magnet, once close to her, she needed to follow. Seeing her face so weary and upset like that made Piper worry. She didn't want Alex to get the wrong idea because of Larry being there, holding her hands. But why? _Alex let me believe a lie. So why shouldn't I just let her believe that Larry and I are getting close again?_

No. She couldn't do that. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't. Piper walked, almost ran, to the corner store where she guessed Alex would be, as she always went there for cigarettes when she was stressed. But she was nowhere to be seen. She pulled her phone out her bag and rang Alex for the first time in what felt like months. _Please pick up._

'Hello.'

Her husky voice at the other end of the phone instantly made piper smile.

'Alex - Al please don't hang up. I'm sorry for not answering your calls for so long I just..I'm ready to talk.'

'Great. Well, can we meet at Red's? 10 minutes.'

'Yeah where are you? I just saw you.'

'I was on my way to the corner store but I-I didn't really feel like sticking around here when I saw- I was just headed to the park to clear my head. On my way now.' She paused for a few seconds. 'It's so good to hear your voice, Pipes. I miss you.'

Piper smiled to herself, because she was so glad to hear her girlfriend's voice too. She'd missed her a lot. Missed her nickname coming from Alex's mouth. 'It's good to hear yours, too...' She whispered. But she didn't want Alex to think everything was okay again. She cleared her throat, adapting a more sultry tone. 'I'll see you at Red's in a few.' And she hung up.


	9. Chapter 9 - Explanation

**Hey guys, so glad you're enjoying the story, thank you so much for your reviews and follows! I have a few more ideas for this story, but if you have any ideas you think would go well feel free to comment or inbox me! Brainstorming a few more ideas so updates might not be as regular as they have been so far. Enjoy this chapter for now! H xo **

**Chapter 9 - Explanation**

Piper pushed through the door of Red's, shaking the water off her umbrella. It was quiet, not many customers, and it was also Red's day off, which was good because it would be easier to have a conversation with Alex without someone interrupting them every few minutes. They needed to talk properly. She looked over to the bar, and there was Alex, sat on a bar stool, fiddling with the label on her beer bottle. She looked stressed and paler than usual. Piper hoped she didn't have the flu again. She walked over to the bar, and Alex immediately stood up. Before Piper could say anything, they locked in a tight embrace. The smell of Alex's hair and perfume filled Piper's nostrils, she didn't realise how good it felt to hug this woman, to feel her again. _Fuck, I've missed her. _After a few minutes of a silent embrace, the two of them finally pulled themselves apart from one another and sat down.

'It's so good to see you Pipes.' Alex's voice sounded weak, and she pushed a strand of hair off Piper's forehead.

'Are you okay? You don't look well.' Piper asked with concern, touching Alex's shoulder, then quickly moving it away. She couldn't just forget that they had had a fight.

'I'm fine. I've just missed you. And I might have a cold.' The brunette shrugged at the last sentence.

'Oh Alex, you really need to look after yourself more!'

'I love it when you get all cute and motherly like that.' Alex smiled with the corner of her mouth like she usually did when teasing Piper, and Piper looked down. _This isn't the time to joke._

_'_We need to talk, Alex.'

'I know. There's so much I need to explain, I had it all rehearsed in my head but now I...I can't fucking think of the words to say.'

'That's okay. I can wait, I've got all afternoon.' Gina, Red's assistant manager, walked past and Piper caught her attention. 'Hey, Gina, can I get a chamomile tea please?'

'Sure.' Gina could obviously tell Piper and Alex weren't themselves today, and Red had probably told her they'd had a fight as she didn't stop to make small talk, rushing back behind the bar.

'I don't know where to start.'

'Alex, I just need to know that you're not a completely different person to who I thought you were. And what you're doing isn't dangerous. Please just at least show me that.'

It hurt Alex to hear Piper say that. Piper did know her, more than anyone. She felt too lucky that this incredible woman had come into her life and was giving her a second chance, and she didn't want to let her out of her sight ever again.

'No Piper - the business, what I do- that's not me. You _do_ know me Pipes. You're one of very few people I let get close to me. One of the very few people I love. So much. You _have_ to believe me when I tell you that the only reason I didn't tell you about this sooner was because I was scared that you wouldn't wanna know me. I needed to know you would stick around, that I could trust you-

'Trust me? To what, help you deal your drugs? Like your other girlfriends?'

'No. Piper, please listen to me. Just let me speak. I don't 'drug deal'. And those girls weren't my girlfriends. They were people I recruited to help me import. To move drugs and the money that we made from one country to another. Yeah, so I would charm them every now and then to make things easier. That doesn't mean anything.'

'Sounds like a cut throat business to be in. It sounds dangerous Alex. Those men, they didn't exactly make me feel safe, and I'm not sure that gun was just there for show.'

'They would never have hurt you, Pipes. And I've never hurt anybody, I'm not a violent person. Even though I am a tough gal.' Alex half smiled, but knew she shouldn't make a joke. _Damn it, Alex. Why do I always have to turn serious shit into a joke._

_'_But are you ever in danger? Could something happen..' Piper stopped herself because she didn't want to even think about Alex being in any kind of danger.

'No, I've never been involved in anything dangerous Pipes. I'm above all that, I just organise the importing. And Kubra only told you those things about the other girls because it's funny to him, he likes to show people he's superior, the fountain of all fucking knowledge. It's not true. Of course it's not true. Surely you know that I'm in love with you Piper, you're all I care about.' Alex moved her hands along the bar to Piper's, weaving their fingers together and rubbing Piper's thumb with hers. At first Piper thought of pulling away, but as she looked into Alex's eyes, she could see that she was being completely honest and wanted nothing more than Piper to forgive her. She didn't have the strength to pull her hand away.

'I do know...I do. Tell me about the cartel then. From the beginning, when did you start?'

'One chamomile tea. Here you go, Piper.'

'Thanks, Gina.' Piper sipped her tea, waiting for Alex to answer her question.

Alex pushed her glasses to the top of her head. 'I met one of Kubra's close associates, Fahri, when I was 22. Funnily enough he supplied drugs to my Dad, that's when I met him actually, whilst visiting my good for nothing Dad…meeting Fahri was the only decent thing that came out of that trip. He knew I was looking for adventure and this job was perfect for that. I spent the last four years travelling the world staying in the best hotels, being invited to the most amazing cocktail parties, and being paid a fuck load for it. I loved the adrenalin. The adventure. And I didn't attach myself to anyone I met along the way. I was never in serious relationship, that would be too difficult. Just wild, meaningless flings with girls who did the job well. Kubra treated me as his number one employee, and I felt important. He still does. Anyway, I've known Nicky since I was 16, and when I arrived in this town last year we started talking again and it was like old times between us, so we ended up getting the flat together with the cash I'd saved. I still travel, but not as much as I used to. Kubra's given me a more work from home job, I sort of tell people where to go and when, arrange their flights etcetera, all from home. '

Piper paused, trying to take it all in. _She still travels? _'When do you next have to...travel? Were you even planning on telling me?'

'My next trip is in 2 months. Course I was Piper, I was actually gonna ask you to come with me.'

'You were?'

'Yeah. Think I'd miss you too much otherwise. I'll be there for 3 weeks.'

'Where abouts?'

'Dubai.'

Piper's eyes widened, she had always wanted to go to Dubai. 'Wow...'

'So?'

'So what?'

'Will you come with me, dumbass.'

'I…You haven't asked me if I've forgiven you first.' Piper's pink lips curved into a cute smile, and Alex laughed. She knew Piper had already forgiven her. She had the feeling that no matter what life threw at them, they would always end up back in each other's arms.

'Oh. Do you forgive me?' She asked, with a slightly sarcastic tone, raising an eyebrow. She then dropped the sarcastic tone, knowing it wasn't appropriate for an apology. 'I know I really fucked up Pipes, but I really am so sorry.'

_For fucks sake. Alex Vause does it again. Explains everything so well, charms me, and uses that smile and that thing with the eyebrow she does cause she knows it will remind me just how in love I am with her. _'Yes.' Piper put her hand on Alex's, whose face lit up.

'So will you come? Will ya, will ya?' She began tickling Piper's waist, who squirmed in her seat, giggling loudly. _God, I'll never be able to get enough of her cuteness. I just want to eat her for dinner._

'Yes! Yes I'd love to!' Piper grabbed Alex's hands to try and stop them from tickling her, and then they stopped laughing, both serious and still again. _This feels so normal. So right._

'I'm so glad you agreed to talk to me Pipes. One week away from you is too long. Please can this never happen again.'

'I know. This was our first real fight…'

Alex took a swig of her beer. 'Yeah, and our last. I promise you I'll never hide anything from you again.'

The blonde looked down at Alex's warm hands in hers, where they belonged. 'Thank you. I love you.'

'I love you too.'

Alex leaned in to kiss her, their lips touching tenderly. It felt amazing, and Alex didn't want to stop, but when they did, she moved her lips to Piper's ear, letting out a breath that sent a shiver down Piper's spine.

'Come back to mine. And _stay_.' She whispered seductively.

Piper moved her eyes around the bar to see if anyone was looking at them, tucking her hair behind her ear, trying to compose herself. She had missed Alex too much and felt a burning need to touch every inch of her body right there and then.

'Okay.' Were the only words that could escape her mouth as her knees weakened.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys, finally got round to a new chapter, and this is a short one but it's because i've split it into two so the next one will be uploaded straight after this :) xo**

**Chapter 10 – Morning after**

The next morning, Piper opened her eyes. The sunlight poured through the window of the bedroom, spilling over Alex's gorgeously curvy body. Her arm was a dead weight on Piper's hip. Piper smiled, she looked so beautiful sleeping next to her, her silky black hair perfectly placed down her bare shoulders, skin milky white almost glowing in the sunlight. She had never been so happy waking up with her hand wrapped round Alex Vause, head so close to her chest she could hear her heartbeat. She was still asleep, so Piper cuddled up to her, playing with a strand of her soft hair, twisting it round her finger. 'Alex' she sing-songed quietly. 'Wake up baby..' She planted a kiss on her girlfriends shoulder, who began to stir and pulled the duvet over her head, groaning.

'Need sleep.'

Piper laughed. 'I have to go into the city today. You said you would make me breakfast and take me to the station' She pulled the sheet down and kissed Alex's head again.

'What time is it?' Alex asked in a low voice, eyes still closed.

Piper looked over to the alarm clock on the bedside table. 'It's 8am. I need to leave here by 9.' She sat up and stretched her arms above her head. Alex yawned loudly.

'Stay.' She mumbled.

'Alex, I have to go to this meeting! It's important for the business, and Polly will kill me If I'm late!' She whined in protest as Alex yanked her back down onto the mattress.

The brunette had opened her eyes, fluttering her eyelashes against the pillow case, and ran a hand through her hair even though it already looked perfect. 'You know how many hours we were up last night having hot, amazing sex? A lot. So…why don't we just stay in bed all day today and…gain our energy back. I know a few ways to relax you' She teased, speaking in between peppering kisses down Piper's naked body, from her neck to her hips, making her skin tingle.

'No…no Alex-' Alex kissed her softly on her thighs. _Damn. If I let her do this I'll never make my train. _'Damn it Alex!' Piper took Alex's head between her hands and pulled it to her face. She kissed her on her lips then let go and quickly stumbled from the bed to the wardrobe to pull out an outfit.

Alex let out a husky laugh and threw herself back onto the bed. 'Pipes, you only just got back here. Why do you have to go again?'

'I've told you, it's a very important meeting and Polly and I have to be there if we want our products to make the Barney's shelves. Besides I'll only be gone till the evening. You can pick me up at 10 from the station and then we can get back to where we…left off' She made that cute smile that Alex couldn't resist, took her hands and yanked her up. They kissed, and Alex smiled, sliding her glasses on and pulling on some shorts with a loose sweatshirt before walking out to the kitchen.

'Bacon and eggs?' she called as she opened the fridge.

'Sounds perfect gorgeous!' Piper called back, pulling a tight black skirt up her waist.

Alex wished she could sit and listen to Piper call her gorgeous in that cute voice all day. _I'm so lucky to have her back. I just wish I could keep her here for today, no work, no interference, just the two of us._

'Did Polly invite Larry along again?' She asked with a hint of sarcasm, cracking an egg on the pan, imagining it was Larry's head.

Piper emerged from the hallway wearing just the black skirt and her bra, rolling her eyes. She could hear the jealousy in Alex's voice, even though she had no reason to be jealous. She wrapped her arms round Alex's waist from behind and kissed her gently on her ear.

'Al, don't be silly. We've talked about this. You know I had no choice in him coming to the diner yesterday and yes, he may have been holding my hands and I'm sorry you had to see that but I was upset and he just happened to be there that's all. I still think he's an asshole.' She kissed Alex's neck this time, who smirked at hearing Piper insult her ex. She swivelled round to face the blonde, placing her hands on her waist and down to her ass.

'Good. Because the only person that's allowed to touch you, is me.' She said between her teeth, squeezing Piper's ass cheeks.

Piper giggled and tore herself away, 'yes sir.' Alex's hand was still holding hers preventing her from walking back to the bedroom. 'I need to get my stuff together before we eat so we can set off straight away.' She kissed Alex's hand and disappeared back through the hallway.

'Haven't you got a shift at the store tonight?' She called from the bedroom.

'Yeah, but its fine I'm gonna call in sick so I can be there to pick you up.'

'No, no you don't need to miss work just to make sure I get home. I can get a cab.'

'Pipes. It's fine. I'll pick you up okay. Besides, it's not like I need that job, it's just there for when people I don't trust ask me what I do for a job, or my mom cause she'd kill me if she knew I imported drugs' Alex chuckled.

'Al I can get a cab, don't worry about me!' Piper said as she dumped her bag by the door and sat at the table. Alex put a plate of bacon, egg and a slice of toast in front of her and she immediately began shovelling it into her mouth. This made Alex laugh, knowing the 'exercise' they got last night was the reason for her girlfriend's extreme hunger.

'Hungry?' She winked, green eyes glistening with amusement.

'I'm serious' Piper looked up, mouth full of food.

'Well let's see, I have some work stuff to do today, then I gotta go pick up an order for Nicky, ring my mom, get some groceries…so I won't have time for work today anyway.' She shrugged, biting into a slice of toast, quickly swallowing it before Piper could speak again and protest. She leaned forward and her face shifted to a more serious one. 'I don't want you walking around alone at night after a long day in New York. I will be at the station at 10 sharp, waiting for you.' She kissed Piper on the nose and got up to put their plates in the sink. She felt an urge to protect Piper, she'd never been protective over anyone before. Since the other night, seeing Piper so distraught and scared of her co-workers, Alex couldn't bear the thought of something happening to her when she was on her own again. She knew Piper could take care of herself, but that was beside the point. She couldn't help but want to make sure she was always around in case any danger came close to her girlfriend.

'Fine. I don't know why you're insisting but if I can't persuade you to go to work...' she walked to the door, putting her jacket on.

'Nope. You can't' Alex grabbed her keys.

'You're driving me in that?' Piper's questioned, her eyes raking the brunettes body, covered in nothing but boxer shorts and a baggy sweat top, completely naked underneath, which kind of turned her on.

'What? I'm just driving you Pipes. As much as I wish I could come to the city with you.' She put on a sad face as she grabbed the blonde's waist and pulled her closer. Piper squeezed her cheeks, kissing her on the lips.

'Wish you could.'

'Same. Now come on kid, you're gonna be late.'


	11. Chapter 11 - Kubra's orders

**Enjoy! H xo**

**Chapter 11 – Kubra's orders**

Alex tapped her pen against the desk, staring at the laptop screen. She pulled her glasses off, and chewed the ends in concentration. 'Fuck,' she muttered to herself, throwing down her glasses and letting out a stressed sigh. Sometimes working for an international drug cartel was fucking stressful. She glanced at the time. _9pm. _After calling in sick at work, picking up Nicky's delivery and stocking up on food, Alex had an hour before she had to go and pick up Piper. _Great, Alex, one hour and you haven't sorted out this import or bought the tickets for Dubai. _She groaned and put her head in her hands, when her mobile rang. _Fahri_.

'Hi Fahri.'

'Alex. We're pushing your trip to Dubai forward, we can't afford to wait.'

'What? How soon is forward?'

'One week.'

Alex paused, eyes widening. 'Are you fucking kidding me?' _One week. Nicky and Lorna aren't back for another 3 weeks and Pipers got loads of business stuff she needs to do, she won't be able to go. Plus I promised to go to her business launch thing for Barney's, it's a big deal to her. But I don't want to leave her here, I want her to come with me. Shit._

'No I'm not kidding. Kubra's orders.'

'Can he not wait a little longer?'

'I guess not. And bring that girlfriend of yours along, she'll come in handy as we're down on mules.'

Alex frowned. Hearing Piper's name in the same sentence as the word 'mule' angered her.

'She's not going to be involved Fahri. I don't even think she's coming.'

'That's a shame. Well you better find someone, this job is a big one and needs another mule otherwise we're all fucked. And it'll be your fault, so you have two weeks to come up with a genius plan, Vause.'

Alex slammed the laptop lid down. It was already 9:30pm.

'Right. Fine.'

'I'll be in touch with the flight details.'

'Yep.' Alex snapped before hanging up and rushing to the door.

_Pipers going to fucking kill me. And now I have to find another mule. I can't use her, I can't. There must be another way. She's going to hate me when I tell her I'm going away next week, without her, missing her launch party and the dinner date we had planned._

Once in the car, she angrily stepped on the gas pedal and accelerated towards the highway, turning up the radio volume to drown her thoughts.

* * *

Piper was non-stop chatting, as usual. About her day in New York, meetings in high rise fancy buildings with important chairmen and executives of Barney's. About the amazing free food served to her and Polly for lunch. Alex tapped the steering wheel, unsure of whether to tell Piper her news.

'And then, Alex you would've laughed, this huge guy like properly fat, sat down and nearly broke his chair! I definitely heard a loud snap and I tried so hard not to laugh but I had to stay professional. Polly loved the names they gave some of the soaps because she's had baby brain for the past god knows how long so left it to them, god they're like 'love me lavender' and 'cheeky cherry', so stupid but cute! Oh and then, they gave us these complimentary little desserts that-' She paused, realising Alex hadn't been paying attention, she was in her own little bubble and Piper could see she looked stressed, her eyes on the road, not even noticing that she had stopped speaking. 'Alex - are you even listening?'

'Huh?' Alex glanced quickly at Piper before setting her eyes on the road again.

'You haven't been listening to anything I've said have you. What's wrong Al?'

'Nothings wrong. I have been listening. I just like hearing you talk that's all, carry on'

Piper sighed. 'No, not before you tell me what's wrong.'

They arrived in the flat car park and Alex put the brakes on, shut off the engine and turned to Piper, eyebrows knitted into a worried look.

'Alex-'

'It's work. Pipes, I have to go to Dubai next week.'

Silence lingered in the air for a few moments, Piper waited to see if Alex was just joking, but she didn't smile. 'What? Are you serious-'

'I know, I know. I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do about it, I have to do this Pipes. Kubra's my boss, and it's his orders.'

'But- but what about my launch party? You promised- you know how important this is to me?'

'Yeah and this is a bit more important for my job.' She snapped, the stress getting to her.

Piper looked at her, surprised at what her girlfriend had just said. 'Oh. I see, because your job is more important, mines just a joke to you.'

'Pipes- no , no I didn't mean that. I'm sorry, that came out wrong.'

'We were supposed to go on this trip together.'

'You can still come! It's just a little earlier than we'd planned.'

'A little earlier? Jesus Alex, we had our own things planned. I need to be at this launch next week!'

'I know.' Alex rubbed her forehead, 'I know you do.'

Piper opened the door and got out the car, Alex following her. Back at the flat, they sat together on the sofa, in silence.

'Pipes-' Alex moved closer and put her hand on Piper's leg. 'I don't want to leave you alone. So come with me.'

'I really want to…but-'

'Then come.' Alex lowered her voice and kissed Piper's lips softly. 'If there was a way I could get out of this, I would. But I have to go.'

_How am I meant to leave the business and not attend my own launch party? Polly will never speak to me again. I can't. But I really want to._

Alex could see how badly Piper wanted to go, so she began kissing her neck, knowing it was something she couldn't resist. Piper let out a quiet moan as Alex's hand moved up her skirt, tracing her inner thigh and her tender neck kisses became softer against her pulse point.

'Come on baby. Say yes.'

Piper knew she had already made up her mind, but didn't want to look so powerless to Alex's not so powerful persuasion. 'But Polly will hate me - The business launch-' She managed to say in between heavy breathing.

'Polly can take care of it. You don't need to be at some fancy party. This will be an adventure. We'll be in an amazing hotel, we'll have our own _private pool._' She exaggerated the last words seductively as she shifted her hand further up Piper's skirt, gently tugging her blonde hair with another hand, and biting her ear. 'Come.' She added, with a fierce tone.

Piper couldn't take it anymore, she smashed her lips against Alex's and ran her hands through her brunette locks. In between breaths and moans, Alex asked 'Is that a yes?'

'Yes.' Piper whispered, losing her breath, her whole body weakening.

'Looks like we're going to Dubai then.' Alex whispered into Piper's ear before pushing her down to lie on the sofa. She climbed on top of her as they explored each other's bodies with their hands and lips, and to anyone it would be clear that they were unconditionally and crazily in love.

* * *

**Hope that was okay, I know this story is going slowly but I like it that way as i've said before! Thank you so much for the follows and favourites, and please please please give feedback, keeps me motivated to write more! lots of love xo**


	12. Chapter 12 - No more soap

**Hey, so like I literally just wrote this of the top of my head, sorry if it's shitty. Let me know if it is, or let me know if you're enjoying the story. Promise there is more to come, i feel really uncreative right now though :( But yeah anyway, enjoy xo**

**Chapter 12 – No More Soap**

They both sat in the car, engine off. Piper was staring at the street ahead of them and Alex looked at her with concerned green eyes. 'You sure you wanna do this?'

'You're asking me this now? When we're all packed and on the way to the airport?' She asked with an agitated hint in her voice.

Alex rolled her eyes, not in the mood for a stressy girlfriend. 'You know what I mean Piper.'

'Yeah, sorry, I'm just nervous.'

'Yeah no kidding, you decided to leave it till now to tell Polly you're going away for two weeks. Literally last minute.'

'This is the only way, I couldn't tell her any earlier, she would've started a huge protest and guilt trip against me and probably attempted to murder me so I couldn't go, so it's best to just let her blood boil while I'm gone and when I'm back she'll forgive me.'

'I like your way of thinking. But I also know the way Polly reacts to stuff especially when it involves me and I don't think murder is an over exaggeration. She'll probably murder me, actually.'

'What else am I supposed to do, I don't really have a choice'

They both looked out the window at Polly's house. Piper went to open the car door but hesitated.

'We could just go without telling her. She'll think I've kidnapped you and made you my pimp or something' she smirked, knowing what a terrible joke it was, Piper shooting her an unimpressed look.

'Right, I'm getting this over with.' Piper took her seatbelt off and got out the car.

Alex rolled down the window as Piper walked up the path to Polly's house. 'Just don't take too long okay we have to be at the airport in less than an hour!' The blonde nodded without saying a word and Alex sighed, worried that this would put Piper in a shit mood for the whole of the holiday.

Pete answered the door, wearing boxers and an open dressing gown, holding a beer. _God he's such a slob._

'Piper..!' He exclaimed in a surprised tone.

'Hi Pete...' She took a deep breath and looked through to the living room where there was a football game on, and Larry was sat on the sofa, looking at her. _Shit, of course fucking Larry has to be here. He's fucking everywhere._

'Come in. Polly's just putting Finn down, she should be back in a second…you want a drink? You know Larry's over and-'

'-Nope, I can't stop.' She quickly interrupted, trying not to make eye contact with her ex. _Anything but a drink with Larry. _She stood in the hallway, not walking any further into the house. She was too nervous to make herself comfortable. Pete looked past her through the window at Alex sat in the car.

'Ohh- right. Well I'll just-' he gave her a confused look and turned to the stairs. 'Poll! Pipers here! Hurry, she's in a rush!' He winked at her and went to sit back down next to Larry, who had luckily turned his attention back to the TV screen. Polly appeared at the top of the stairs, looking surprised to see her this late without a text or call beforehand.

'Piper? Hey, what are you doing, come sit down-' She walked down to stand opposite Piper, beckoning her to the kitchen.

'No its okay, Alex is waiting for me in the car.' She stood still, fiddling with her hands, clearly not acting how she usually did around her best friend. 'Polly, there's actually something I have to tell you…I'm going to Dubai. Now, actually. We're on the way to the airport.'

Polly gave her a stunned look, lost for words. 'What? With her? For how long?'

'Yes, with Alex. Her name is Alex. For 2 weeks.'

'Piper what the fuck?! You have to be kidding me! We have a really important launch party for our business? For Poppy! I need you here!'

'I know, I know. It's not just a holiday, it's for- business.'

'Excuse me?'

'Alex. For work.'

'She has to go to Dubai for _Walmart_? Are you taking the piss? Do you think I'm stupid?' she raised her voice and Piper closed her eyes and took another deep breath, not wanting to argue.

'No it's something else- it's- look I promised I would go with her and it's a long story but the trip got pushed to this week and I wanted to tell you but I knew you would be angry and I-'

'Yeah no fucking kidding! I'm furious Piper! You know what you meet this asshole lesbian who sweeps you off your feet and can't even remember your friend' s names, and makes you miserable as hell for a whole week, then you decide to fucking take off to fucking Dubai for a holiday with her and put that ahead of our business that you've been so dedicated to? You are unbelievable! Do I even matter to you? It's like you don't give a shit about me anymore let alone the business!'

'Polly!' Piper shouted, trying to cut short her friend's angry, loud rant. She hated fighting with Polly. Pete and Larry were now both staring at them from the living room. _Great._ 'That's not fair. It's not like that at all, you're my best friend! The business matters to me it! You matter to me-' she held Polly's tense shoulders in attempt to calm her down, 'It's really complicated to explain but she has to go and she just- she just persuaded me to go and I _really_ love her Polly. I just want to be wherever she is.' Piper said this as if she was declaring her love for Alex for the first time, surprised she was saying it aloud to Polly who wasn't exactly Alex's biggest fan.

'You love her?' Polly questioned a bit too loudly and Piper could see Larry glaring at her in the corner of her eye. She nodded. 'Right. Regardless of that, how am I supposed to attend our own business launch without my business partner? Do you want this to look like a joke? You know what, fuck it. I'm pulling out of Barney's. It's never gonna work.'

Piper's eyes widened in shock, and she took her hands off Polly's shoulders, opening her mouth to reply but unsure what to say back.

'Poll...that's not what I…you can't be serious?' Her voice now quiet so Larry and Pete wouldn't be able to hear.

'I can, its clearly not important to you so there's no point starting our business if you're gonna be travelling the world with your girlfriend.'

'No! You can't…but we've worked so hard for this?' _Wow, I never thought I'd see the day Polly no longer wanted Poppy on the Barney's shelves._

'Yeah and you've decided to choose her over our business getting into Barney's. I'm glad you've found her Pipes I really am, but she's not the kind of person who settles down and I'm not gonna be there for the fallout nor am I going to put our business on the line until you realise that settling down is something you wanna do.'

_I can't believe this is happening. She wants to shut down our business…but this is my fault. It's true, I've chosen Alex, because I would rather be with her than run a soap business. And this isn't an adventure or a stupid crush. This is Alex, the only person I've ever been in love with. _Piper knew she should try to talk her best friend out of leaving Barney's, but the truth was she was almost happy that she didn't need to worry about it anymore, and she was pissed at Polly for not understanding her and Alex's relationship. How she thought 'fallout' was inevitable. _How dare she say that?_

'Right. I understand. You don't think Alex loves me.' Was all she could say before she turned to the door.

'Don't you turn this on me Piper, like this is all my fault. What do you expect when you turn up on my doorstep on your way to the airport to let me know the minor detail that you're on your way to Dubai and won't be there for the most important evening of our careers. And I'm not saying she doesn't love you, I'm saying that it probably won't last. She doesn't come across as the relationship type.'

Piper felt herself cracking, Polly was acting like their business was the most important thing in the world, when to Piper, it didn't matter at all right now. She had Alex, who she loved. She wanted nothing more than to tell Polly that Alex was pretty fucking loaded, but she couldn't without mentioning the cartel. Hand on the door handle, she turned her head.

'I love her. And if you can't respect that are you really my best friend? You know what, yeah, put the business on hold for now. You can be at home to look after Finn and I can have a break and actually get out of this town and have an adventure for once in my life. Polly, I feel alive, excited, I feel like my life is actually going somewhere.'

Polly looked at her, face riddled with disappointment. 'And the business is just inconvenient for this adventure?'

'Yes.' She took her hand off the door and turned to Polly. 'I just want to do something new with my life. I want new challenges, new places, new feelings. Just to get out of this boring same old routine I've lived all my fucking life. I love you Poll. So much.' Seeing Polly so sad caused tears to gather in her eyes, and she threw her arms around her friend. Polly didn't reciprocate at first, but then wrapped her arms round Piper, squeezing her tight.

'I love you too Pipes. I just want you to be happy, you know that.' They separated and Polly wiped her eyes.

'I know.'

'I'll cancel the launch and tell them we're pulling out. I'm sure there'll be a place for us in Barney's if we ever want to change our minds.' Piper saw her force a smile.

'Yeah. Thanks Poll.' She smiled, squeezing Polly's hand. 'And _please _give Alex a chance. I want you to like her so badly.'

'I'll try my best' Polly tried to laugh through her tears.

Piper giggled and took her friend into an embrace once more. A loud beep from a car broke the silence they stood in. _Alex being impatient. _'Shit, I better go, our flights in an hour and a half.'

'Okay. I'll miss you. Facebook me.' Polly smiled.

'You know I will.' Piper was so glad she hadn't fallen out with her best friend, and although she knew she had hurt Polly, and things might take a while to get back to normal between them, being honest with her was for the best.

'Now go, before I start crying again.' Polly nudged Piper towards the door.

'Bye Poll.'

'Bye Pipes. Have a safe trip.'

Piper walked slowly out the door, eyes still on her best friend. The door shut and she took a deep breath to compose herself, she didn't want Alex to know she'd been crying. She realised she no longer really had an income, and she didn't want to rely completely on her girlfriend's money, because she didn't want her to feel pressured or anything. _I don't have to tell her we've put the business on hold. But if I lie, she'll find out._

'What you're doing is wrong.' Piper froze in her path towards the car, hearing a familiar voice. She turned, not realising Larry had followed her out. She threw her head back and made an obvious loud, annoyed sigh. _Fuck sake, really?_

_'_Pardon?'

'This is step one of ruining your life.' Larry walked towards her, hands in his pockets.

'What the fuck, Larry? This is none of our business. Have you been eavesdropping?'

'It was hard not to hear you two arguing.' Piper could feel Alex's green eyes burning holes in her back from the car. 'You're gonna give up this easily Piper? Give up on a business that I know you've worked so hard for? All for a stupid fling with some woman?'

'_Excuse_ me? A fling?!' Piper's whole body went hot with anger at Larry's words. As she'd guessed, Alex immediately got out the car and appeared next to her. _Great, now that Larry has opened his big mouth I have absolutely no choice in Alex knowing about the business. Larry's always been a dick, but this is a step too far._

'Wow, some ones not moved on.' her girlfriend smirked. Obviously Alex would be the one to make a joke about it.

'You're taking Piper away from the people that care about her most. This business is one of her greatest opportunities and you're letting her just drop it like that, for you?'

_She's giving up the business? _Alex actually looked shocked, feeling slightly guilty that Piper had made such a big choice without saying anything to her beforehand. She opened her mouth before Piper could interrupt her, 'Larry that's enough. What I do is none of your business, and it's my choice. Alex didn't tie me up and force me to do this. She had no idea, actually. I don't want to do the soap business anymore, and I don't have to fucking justify anything to you.'

'Piper I need you to listen to me, you're making the wrong choices-' he stepped forward trying to grab her shoulders but Alex intervened, stepping in front of the blonde and pushing him back with a forceful shove.

'Get the _fuck_ away from her. You know nothing, She didn't ask for your input so I suggest you fuck off. Now.' She spat.

'Woah. I always heard lesbians could be aggressive' Larry narrowed his eyes mockingly.

Alex stepped forwards and pushed her finger against his chest. 'Wanna say that again, fuckboy?'

'Okay, okay Alex lets go.' Piper tried to speak calmly, pulling her girlfriend back to her.

Larry held his hands in the air. 'If you really did care about Piper you'd leave her to-'

Alex couldn't take Larry's whining anymore, it filled her with anger just hearing him mention her girlfriend's name. She raised her voice louder than his, looking down on him as she had a slight height advantage. 'Do you really want to have this conversation? You know I feel sorry for you, I really do,' she chuckled, 'because you're the boring, sad, pathetic little boy who spends all his time watching porn and football round his friend's house and writing awfully titled columns for newspapers that no one gives two fucks about, and you're just _so_ jealous that I have this hot, amazing woman who loves me and who doesn't want your small dick anymore.' She gave him a patronising smile, challenging him to argue back so she could annihilate him. She had never lost an argument in her life. What she said was true and he knew it, because Alex was an amazing judge of character due to her job. Larry said nothing, clenching his fists and scowling at the amused brunette.

She glanced down at his fists and laughed. 'What ya gonna do huh? Punch me? Go on. I'd fucking _love_ to see you try'

Piper's eyes widened and she grabbed her girlfriend's hand, even though it turned her on slightly seeing her so protective and ready to fight with her pathetic ex. 'Alex! We need to go now. Goodbye Larry, we have a plane to catch. Hope I never see you again, you asshole.'

'Fuck you. Fuck both of you!' Larry called, making a petty attempt at insulting them as they walked back to the car, Piper practically dragging Alex by her sleeve.

'See you in hell, kid!' Alex called back, one finger in the air, still chuckling. The two got in the car and Piper was sat in the driver's seat this time, worried that Alex was too angry to be behind the steering wheel.

'I can drive ya know.'

'I don't want you to. I need you to calm down. Was that really necessary?'

They drove off and Piper glanced into the wing mirror at Larry who was still stood on Polly's lawn watching their car. _What was I thinking ever dating him? Fucking asshole. S_he stepped on the accelerator harder.

'I hate that man. He is _such _an idiot. I hope you don't think I'm 'taking away your opportunities' she said, mimicking Larry's voice.

Piper shook her head. 'No, no not at all, I promise. I want to be with you, Al. I don't want to do the soap business anymore, I was getting really sick of it actually. I've wanted to quit for a while now and this was just the way it had to happen.'

'Okay, as long as you're completely sure babe.'

'I am.'

'How was it with Polly? Did you really decide to drop Barneys?' Piper wiped her eyes with one hand, the other clenching the steering wheel. Alex immediately looked concerned, the mention of Polly clearly having an effect. 'Pipes have you been crying?'

'Fuck' she muttered.

'Piper?'

'I'm fine, it - it didn't go too well at first. We had an argument about it, and some stuff was said and…yeah she decided to pull us out of Barneys. But knowing how disappointed she was in me…and the fact she doesn't like you, I just wish you got on.'

Alex felt a pang of guilt in her stomach. _It's true, I could make more of an effort with Polly. _'Oh Pipes. Do you want me to talk to her?'

'No, no it's okay. And I agreed. I agreed to put the business on hold for now. It's for the best. I want to do something different.' She squeezed Alex's hand. 'Things are okay between Poll and I which is all that matters. I do just wish you two could get past your differences. You're two of the most important people in my life. '

'I promise I'll make more of an effort to get to know her, okay? I'll invite her for dinner when we're back from Dubai.' Piper nodded, giving a half smile with her beautiful pink lips and Alex rubbed a hand on her thigh. 'What are you gonna do about not having a job?' _Why did I ask that, she doesn't need a job, I can easily buy her everything she needs. I want to make her happy._

'I'll probably just get another job to make ends meet for now.'

'You don't have to do that Pipes. I make enough money for the both of us, I'm not gonna let you get some shitty part time job like Walmart. Fuck it, come live with me. Travel the world with me.' Alex realised she was maybe being too forward but she didn't care, because this was what she had wanted since the day she met this beautiful blonde woman in the store. Piper's cheeks turned slightly pink, eyes focused on the road, unsure if her girlfriend was joking.

'Don't joke Alex.'

'I'm not joking. I want you to. I really love you Pipes and I don't want you out of my sight.'

Her face lit up and she turned from the road to Alex, putting the car in cruise mode now that they were on the highway. 'Wow...I...I'd love to! I don't know what to say!' She cried excitedly.

Alex chuckled. 'You don't have to say anything.' She leaned over and kissed Piper's cheek. _God I could just eat her up._ 'Just accept it.'

'I love you Alex.' Piper wore an ear to ear smile, her snowy white teeth showing.

'Dubai here we come.' Alex said sing-songed excitedly, kissing her girlfriend multiple times on the cheek, still in disbelief that she was hers.

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**Probably a bit of a filler chapter tbh haha. Please review, and thankyou for all your follows and favourites! lots of ove :) H xo**


	13. Chapter 13 - Dubai: Part One

**New update! I'm excited for you to read these next few chapters, i'll upload the next one in a bit. Enjoy! xo**

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**Chapter 13 - Dubai: Part One**

Four days into their trip to Dubai, everything was going amazingly. Alex lay on the beach, watching her beautiful girlfriend from a distance swimming in the sea, standing up and running her hands through her wet blonde hair. She walked towards Alex like a girl from a bond movie. 'Dang. You're hot. Can I take you out for a drink some time?' Alex joked, smiling with the corner of her mouth as Piper walked across white sand and lay down on the towel next to her. She wore a black bikini that showed off her smooth curves and generous cleavage that always caused Piper's jaw to drop when she put it on. Alex pushed her sunglasses down her nose with a finger to peer from behind them, jokingly checking her out. Piper giggled and playfully pushed her. 'How's my tan?'

'Pipes you're practically black. Your skin is beautiful.' She placed her lips on Piper's sun kissed shoulders as she sat up and began to massage them slowly while the blonde lay on her stomach, head buried in her arms. 'Mmm' she groaned purposely explicitly. 'That's so _good_. Mmmm.' This massively turned Alex on and Piper knew that.

'I am known for my massage skills...' she lowered her voice to a whisper, 'wanna go back to the apartment? Take this massaging session to the pool?' She kissed her girlfriend's back who sat up to face her. The beach was very small and secluded, surrounded by luscious palm trees. It was like something off a travel agency advert, empty bar a few other couples spread out across the small stretch of sand. The sun beat down on them, tingling their skin and it was bliss. Piper wished she could just lay there with Alex forever.

'I would love to.' Alex smiled her irresistible smile, sliding off her sunglasses and Piper sat up to connect their lips when a loud phone ringing broke the moment.

Alex fumbled for it in her bag. 'Fuck sake, it's Fahri. Two seconds baby.'

She stood up and slipped on her flip flops as she answered the phone, walking out of earshot. Piper gathered their things and rolled up the towels, eyes on Alex's stunning figure in that black bikini. She couldn't believe she was here. She wished Alex didn't have to work so much though.

_Don't be stupid Piper, what do you expect, this is a business trip that you've been invited on to keep Alex company. I can make my own entertainment while she's gone._

She sauntered off the beach, onto the market filled street that backed it and over to the small row of shops to buy them both a choc ice and maybe some watermelon because it was Alex's favourite.

'I can't ask her to do it. She's only here to keep me company. Nothing more.' Alex snapped, not in the mood to discuss Piper with her co-worker.

'Well we need someone to wait in that car parking lot with that bag. If you don't have anyone waiting with it, and it doesn't get passed to the highest paying customer yet, the whole plan is fucked. She doesn't need to do much.'

'I know. Just let me find someone else, give me a little bit more time that's all.'

'Kubra will give you 24 hours. No more. Remember we have a bunch of guys in the business who don't want us here. They think it's_ their_ selling territory.'

'Yeah. Kubra filled me in. Something about them trying to fake being our customers and that we need to be careful about who we give the import to while we're out here'

'That's' exactly it. '

Alex looked round then to see Piper was gone. _Where the fuck has she gone?_ For a few split seconds she panicked, eyes scanning her surroundings for her girlfriend. She marched down the beach and onto the street. 'I gotta go.' She snapped, hanging up the phone. To her relief, there was Piper, browsing in a little tourist shop, amused by an ornament of some sort in her hands. Alex walked up behind her and wrapped her arms round her waist. 'I was worried about you. Don't walk off like that.' She chuckled, trying not to sound too serious even though she did think of the worse whenever Piper left her sight.

'Sorry boss.' Piper curled her lips into a smile and pecked her girlfriend on the cheek. 'Want an ice cream?'

'Oh I'm not hungry for ice cream.' Alex whispered into Piper's ear seductively, subtly kissing her neck and squeezing her hips.

Piper tried to control her breathing, she hated how easily and quickly Alex could arouse her like that. She grabbed her hand and they rushed back to the apartment, unable to keep their hands off each other for more than a few hours in public.

* * *

'So what do you think of it here?' Alex asked, spooning a pile of rice into her mouth. They sat cross legged on cushions with bowls of curry, at a street food restaurant that was full of locals. It was dark and the temperature had dramatically dropped as it did at night in Dubai, but there was a roaring fire a few metres away, surrounded by loud bustling people, and as much as Piper loved the rich part of this country, she enjoyed joining the locals, it felt a lot more cultural and real.

She spoke up above the noise of conversations and chefs calling out orders. 'Alex I love it, it's incredible!'

'Good. I'm glad you like it. I just want you to have a good time. You know, there are more trips coming up.'

'I wish we could go on a holiday where you didn't have to work, though. I just want you all to myself. Is that selfish, am I being selfish?'

Alex laughed_. Piper always worrying if she's said the wrong thing. _'No you're not. Tell you what; tomorrow I've got a job to do but the two days after that I'm all yours. And I mean it.'

'Sounds perfect.'

Alex leaned over and kissed her. _I need to ask her. I can't find anyone else. Shit. No, no I can't ask her to do this, I won't. _Even though she was against the idea, she blurted it out anyway, 'and about that. I meant to ask - would you be able to help me out? Tomorrow, like for the job?' _Fuck. What have I just said?_

'Yeah sure' Piper said mouth full of chicken, seeming almost too relaxed about what her girlfriend had just said.

Alex's eyes widened and she swallowed her food, putting down the bowl. 'Just like that? You're not going to ask what it is?'

Piper smiled and set down her bowl, mirroring Alex's actions. 'Well, what is it?'

'Basically all you'd need to do is stand in a parking lot with a bag of money until this guy comes, takes it from you then gives you another one in exchange. That's literally it.' She couldn't believe she was asking Piper to do this. And that she was agreeing with no persuasion.

'Will you be there?'

'There's an old kind of abandoned building that we use as a sort of base when we do business here. I'll be watching from an upstairs room there, making sure the right guy receives the bag. You'll be able to see me, it's not far away. The bag he gives you will have a huge wad of cash in it.'

'...Okay. Should be easy enough right.' Piper shrugged, picking up her bottle of beer and taking a swig.

'Oh my god I better ring Fahri!' Alex's face lit up and she picked up her phone and stood up, 'I'll be back in a second- thanks beautiful. You really are the best. I am gonna eat you for dinner.' She teased in her low husky voice, kissing Piper on the cheek before putting her phone to her ear and walking to the bathroom.

_It shouldn't be too hard right? I just have to stand with a bag and wait for some guy to take it and give me another in return. Should be a piece of cake. Then why am I already freaking out? Surely it's not that much of a big deal. She wouldn't have asked me to do it if it was. _

Piper played with her food, stabbing it with her fork then moving it around the plate, head in her hand. She wasn't hungry anymore, because she knew that what she had agreed to was illegal and probably quite dangerous. But, at the same time, she wanted to make Alex happy, and feel like she was doing something useful. So that's why she was going to do it. _Step up the fuck up Piper._


	14. Chapter 14 - Dubai: Part Two

**Here you go! I haven't edited this that much because too excited to upload them lol. If this chapter is a complete flop don't be afraid to say haha, but drop a review either way! xo**

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**Chapter 14 – Dubai: Part Two**

The night of Alex's 'big job', Piper stood in the parking lot, hands in her hoodie pockets. It was pitch black and tension hung in the air. The bag was by her feet and she began sweating due to the humid Dubai air as well as her nerves. She fiddled with her top, trying to get it some air to cool off, when headlights suddenly appeared and shone directly at her face. She quickly shielded her eyes with an arm, stepping right back without realising she'd left the bag in front of her and quickly tugged it back to her feet. She subtly glanced up at where she knew Alex was watching even though she couldn't see her, she couldn't really see anything except the car that had just pulled up, its engine humming loudly.

'Come on baby. Don't look so nervous. Chill.' Alex muttered quietly as if Piper could hear her pep talks. She anxiously tapped her fingers whilst watching Piper through binoculars, her laptop and phone on ready to signal Fahri when the drug bag had been exchanged for money.

A large, chunky black boot stepped out of the car and the door slammed making Piper jump, she looked like a rabbit caught in headlights but tried to mask her nervousness. The man was large and dressed in black, and she couldn't see his face, it was just a black silhouette. He said nothing, putting out a large bear-paw-sized hand, beckoning for the bag at her feet.

Her eyes quickly shot up to Alex's window and back at the man. She didn't think she was supposed to say anything, Alex had specifically told her to only hand the bag over and receive another one- which he didn't have with him. _Shit._

'Erm…where's the other bag?'

'Shit Pipes why are you talking?!' Alex quietly hissed.

'Eh?' the man made a confused mumble, stepping towards her and Piper panicked, quickly handing him the bag without further hesitation.

The man turned and stomped towards the car, throwing out another bag as he got into the back of the car, and Piper stood frozen as she watched it speed away. She snatched the bag he had given her and walked quickly out of the parking lot with her head down and hood pulled up.

'Yes baby' Alex grinned to herself, sending Fahri the signal and running down the metal spiral staircase of the old bar to meet Piper.

'Wow that was - so-'

'Adrenalin rush right?' Alex laughed and kissed piper hard on her ear, tightening her grip round her waist. 'You, Piper Chapman, are a lifesaver. And you're the most perfect girlfriend I could ask for.'

Piper nodded her head and smiled, shaking slightly from the rush of adrenalin that had kicked in the minute she arrived at that parking lot.

'Now are you up for some margaritas to celebrate? Kubra's gonna be _so _happy babe.'

'As long as you're happy.' Piper pecked Alex's lips and took her hand. 'And I would love a margarita.'

Alex let out a husky laugh. 'First things first give me the bag so I can get it upstairs where Fahri and one of his guys can pick it up. Lemme just-'

She unzipped the bag and put her hand to her mouth, gasping.

'What? What is it?' Piper looked at her girlfriend with worried eyes and looked down at the bag.

'There's- there's nothing in it! Fuck! Fucking Jesus shit!' Alex's voice was overtaken with panic, automatically setting fear into Piper.

'What do you mean there's-'

'There's nothing in the bag Piper! No money! No fucking cash! That lot was worth fucking thousands and there's absolutely nothing! The little cunt scammed us! He'll be working for the guys trying to fuck up our business and imports!' Alex rummaged frantically in the empty bag, kneeling on the concrete ground.

Piper grabbed Alex's shoulders in attempt to pull her up, she was manic, and it was like watching a mother who'd lost her child.

'Woah, Al, come on lets at least stay clam about this and-'

'Stay calm?! Piper! This is my fucking job! I had one job, one shitting job and it was only the most fucking important one of the year. I'm dead. That's it I'm fucking dead.' Her voice cracked. Alex's face was riddled fear, which Piper had never seen before and it scared her. Alex pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand, the other on her hip. She pushed her glasses onto the top of her head, pacing up and down the room.

'Shit, Alex- Alex please you're scaring me.'

'We need to get out of here.'

'What?'

'We just do. Have you got everything? I need- I need to leave this bag here and then we're going.' She spoke so fast and her voice trembled. Her fear filled eyes stayed focused on the empty bag she now held, running up the stairs, Piper followed her. _She better not do anything stupid. I've never seen her like this before. This scared._

'Alex- how serious was this job?'

Alex didn't reply, helplessly packing away her things and stuffing them into her rucksack.

'Alex?!' Piper shouted to get her attention.

'Piper. We haven't got time to chat about this! We're in deep shit. And I have to get us out of it, the only way I can do that is by getting us both the fuck out of here NOW!' Alex's voice increased in decibels and Piper put her hands through her hair, now worrying just as much as her girlfriend.

'Shit this is my fault, what have I done! I should've checked-'

A loud clang of a metal door and Alex's instinct was to grab Piper's hand and run, leading them to the back of the building.

'Al-'

'Shh!' Alex put her hand over Piper's mouth as she beckoned her to duck down behind the old cobweb infested bar.

Both crouched, they peered round the side and saw 3 men's feet running up the winding stairs. Once Alex was sure they were all upstairs, she turned to Piper and whispered so quietly she was almost miming the words. 'There's a fire exit there to your left.' She pointed to the large unmissable grey door next to them. 'I need you to leave through it and run. Straight to the apartment. Don't stop, just run. Don't speak to anyone, don't look at anyone. When you're there start packing up our stuff. I'll be there in no longer than 5 minutes. Do you understand?'

Piper's eyes widened. Never had she been so worried about Alex, and felt so scared for the both of them. But the adrenalin kept her alert and stopped her from panicking irrationally like she usually would.

'But Alex what about you? What about-'

Alex took Piper's face in her hands as she interrupted her, 'Do you trust me?'

'Yes, yes of course I do.'

'So do exactly what I just told you. I will be 5 minutes. I need to make sure they don't find you. So I'm waiting here till they're out the door then I'm coming to meet you at the apartment. Now go!'

She gently pushed Piper towards the door who got up to run, but paused before turning to smash her lips against Alex's, a hard, passionate kiss, one that said she loved her. Alex kissed back, then before even pulling away from her lips, she whispered, 'Go.'

Piper pushed through the door and bolted from the building. She didn't think about anything other than Alex's words. Run. So she ran. Through the market filled streets, past the rich men in their best suits out for the night, past the beggars sleeping on the pavements. She took in sharp breaths, it had been a while since she'd run this fast. There was an itching thought in the back of her mind that wouldn't go away, and it was that something might happen to Alex. Something bad._ Please god let nothing happen to her. Please. Please._

* * *

'VAUSE!' Alex instinctively pushed her fingers in her ears at the explosive shout coming from Fahri. He sounded mad. Really mad. She stayed in her position, crouched behind the bar.

'There's no fucking money. We need to find her and her blonde mule girlfriend RIGHT NOW!' He shouted, and then a loud crashing made Alex jump as their heavy footsteps descended down the stairs. She put her hands over her head and crouched lower. _Fuck. Please don't let him see me._

She looked at her watch. 3 minutes till she had to be back with Piper. Her phone flashed up and it was Fahri calling her. _Thank fuck it's on silent._ She stuffed it into her pocket and looked at the men who were stood at the front entrance of the building.

Fahri slammed his fist on an old, dust covered pool table. 'Fuck! She's not answering! We need to find her now. Kubra's going to kill them. Let's move!'

Eyes wide with panic, she watched as they moved out the entrance, guns in hands. She heard the wheels of their car screeching and threw herself through the fire escape, sprinting towards the apartment, where Piper was waiting.

* * *

**Cliffhanger! Let me know what you think so far :)) x**


	15. Chapter 15 - Dubai: Part Three

**Last part of the Dubai chapters! As I said, I haven't spent too much time going through and editing so let me know if you point out any mistakes. I really hope you enjoy this, and yes I know that Piper has typically left her life behind just for Alex, but isn't that the beauty of their relationship? Don't think their relationship would be as special without that! Anyway, have fun reading this and sorry if you don't enjoy it as much as I did writing it. H xo**

**Chapter 15 - Dubai: Part Three**

Alex burst through the door and stood up against it, out of breath. She was immediately greeted by a forceful hug from Piper.

'Oh God Alex, I'm so glad you're alright.' Piper said with massive relief, her hand caressing Alex's head. 'Did you see them?'

'Yeah, but they didn't see me. They drove off. Looking for us.'

'What have I done, Alex? Is this all my fault? I really didn't know he would do that.' She pulled away from their hug, holding the brunette's hands.

'No baby, no it's not your fault at all. It's my fault for not fucking checking, I should've been stood there, should have made sure he wasn't a fake. I shouldn't have put you in this position.'

'Are you gonna lose your job?'

'I don't know. But right now, they don't care whether that man was from the opposition or not, they only care that I get the job done and get the cash, no matter what way I do it. So no cash means we've taken the money or we've severely fucked up, which we have. If they find me now I'll probably lose more than just my job. But I don't wanna stick around to find out. We need to be far away from those men before I can even begin to worry about what's happening to my job. They're coming for us, and we need to pack, and get out. Now.'

It had taken them just under 8 minutes to throw their belongings into two suitcases and sling rucksacks over their shoulders before hastily checking out and bundling into a taxi for the airport.

'Is there even a flight back to New York tonight?'

'Oh we're not going back to New York.'

'What?!'

'We need to hide out for a few days, decide where to go next. I can't risk us going back where they know I live just yet. It's a fucking time bomb before they find us if we go back Pipes.'

'Shit, Alex, we are in a huge mess.' She sunk herself down into the car seat, eyes watery.

'Hey, hey.' Alex took her head and kissed it, as it fell onto her shoulder. She gripped Piper's hand tightly.

'We are going to be fine. I promise you. I won't let anything happen to you, ever. As long as you do everything I say, they won't ever get to us in time. We're a team, kid, and we're going to be just fine.' She kissed Piper's head repeatedly &amp; stroked the soft blonde locks on her head to comfort her.

_I fucking hope I'm right. I can't let anything happen to her. This is my fault for getting her involved, my own stupid fucking idiotic fault. If only I had just done my job properly and found a mule completely separate from my personal life._

'Here we are,' the taxi driver mumbled in a strong Arabic accent.

Piper's eyes were heavy, she had almost become unaware of the situation they were in, burying herself into Alex's warmth and falling asleep to the sound of her heartbeat, as if nothing else existed. But then as she sat up, reality hit her in the face.

They got out the taxi, both holding suitcases with one hand and their spare hands woven together.

'You ready?'

Alex looked into Piper's eyes, who looked back into her forest green ones, the eyes that she trusted completely.

'Yes.'

* * *

They sat in first class on the airplane, it had just taken off and Alex was reading her book, feeling a lot safer now that they were off the ground and on their way to Japan, the best flight they could find that was within the hour. Piper was cuddled into Alex, head resting on her shoulder, in an attempt to sleep, but that wasn't really working.

'You know, that was kind of a rush.'

Alex chuckled. 'What happened to the freaking out Piper? But I'm impressed. You handled it pretty damn well for someone who's never done anything like that before.'

'Okay, but I was freaking out cause you were freaking out, and I thought they were going to get you. But once we were out the taxi I felt - I dunno - excited?!'

Alex raised her eyebrows and put down her book. 'That's the adrenalin. All part of the job. Except I'm not usually on the receiving end of one of Fahri's rampages.' She smirked, but then her face dropped to a serious expression again, looking down at her hands that Piper was holding and their fingers interlaced. She took Alex's face and turned it to her own.

'Hey. This isn't the end you know. I know we're in shit, but we're together. And we have each other. I love you Alex Vause, along with all your crazy runaways.'

She gave Alex a long, soft kiss on the lips, who couldn't help but laugh in between breaths at Piper's attempt to cheer her up.

'I love you more than you know, Piper Chapman. And you're right. We're gonna be okay.'

'Japan here we come.' Piper smiled showing her pearly white teeth, resting her head back on Alex's shoulder.

* * *

**What did you think?! Please drop me a comment! As usual, thank you so much for all the follows and favourites. H xo**


	16. Chapter 16 - Tokyo, huh?

**Hey guys! Wow, it feels like agesss since I last posted, i'm so sorry for that! I've been crazy busy with assignments, had to write three 2000 word essays in the past week ughh! But yeah anyway, all i really wanted to do was carry on this fic, and i do not want to be one of those writers that leaves a story unfinished! My brain is a bit dead atm so sorry if this is shit, but for now a fluffy, easy read chapter lol. Enjoy it, and don't forget to let me know what you think! H xo**

**Chapter 16 – Tokyo, huh?**

Alex grasped Piper's hand tight as she tugged her through the crowd, weaving quickly in and out of bustling people, focused only on getting to the hotel. Piper being Piper kept trying to stop to admire the sights and sounds of a whole new country and culture she'd never experienced before.

'Pipes. Please, we don't have time for sightseeing right now.' Alex turned to face her distracted girlfriend who wriggled her hand out of grip.

'Oh Alex, Jesus, can I at least stop to take a photo? We're in a beautiful country, surrounded by amazing views and an amazing culture! Would you please chill out?'

'Chill out?!' Alex raised her voice and ran her hands through her hair, shocked at how Piper was actually telling her to _chill out. _

Piper's smile wiped off her face and she stepped closer to Alex, as strangers pushed past her, realising they were stood right in the way of everyone's path. 'You said we were safe. Alex you said we'd be okay now.' Her worried eyes scanned a stressful looking brunette.

'Piper. Please, I just need to make sure we are at the hotel. Then I promise, I promise I will let you take as many photos and eat as much Chinese food as you want. Just please let me keep you safe.' She took Piper's hand again who did not struggle this time.

'Okay.' Piper whispered, giving Alex a half smile.

* * *

The hotel was like nothing Piper had ever seen before. _Fucking hell, Alex doesn't exaggerate when she says she always goes for the best. _White marble floor, marble pillars, and a gold plated reception desk which stood in front of a giant fish tank that acted as a wall from ceiling to floor, were the first things to catch Piper's eye as she stood, gaping at everything she saw whilst Alex checked them in. After checking in they hauled their luggage into the red carpet lined lift.

'You and me, five star hotel in Tokyo, huh? Who'd have thought?' Alex chuckled, trying to forget the shit situation she was really in.

Piper looked up from her phone, giving Alex that 'look' that made her feel guilty as hell.

'What? You're giving me that look.'

'What look? I'm not giving you a look.' Piper shrugged and focused her eyes back on her phone screen, scrolling aimlessly through Instagram. Alex took her by the waist and pulled her close so their foreheads were touching.

'Don't be mad. I know you wanna explore. There's plenty of time for that. I'm sorry okay? We can leave the hotel at some point, just let me figure a few things out first.'

'So we have to stay in the hotel?' Piper said with puppy dog eyes.

'For a day or two.' She lowered her voice to a whisper and brought her lips to the blonde's ear. 'I'll keep you entertained.' A shiver shot down Piper's spine and she pressed her lips against Alex's, grabbing her neck to pull her even closer.

The lift doors opened with a bell 'ding', making them jump and breaking them apart. Sometimes one kiss was all it took to make them forget anything else existed.

* * *

They sat cross legged on the king sized bed, picking at spring rolls, duck pancakes, noodles and chicken. 'Mmm, this is perfect. You know I've never had room service before.' Piper wiped her soy sauce covered mouth with a napkin.

'Ha, let me get that.' Alex leaned forward and placed her open mouth over Piper's, tasting the sweet sauce in her mouth, slowly licking and sucking Piper's lips. Piper cast aside her food and took Alex's face in her hands, licking and kissing her face all over. Alex let out a quiet moan and her movements got faster as she tugged Piper's top off, followed by her bra. She turned away to reach for something on the bedside table causing Piper to groan, not wanting Alex to take her hands off her for one second. As Alex turned back and ran her hands down her stomach and over her breasts, Piper felt something warm and wet on them.

'Oh...oh gosh…' When she realised what it was, Piper rolled back her head and lay herself on the bed, pulling Alex down with her by the neck.

'Oops.' Alex smiled with the corner of her mouth and raised an eyebrow, climbing on top of Piper, lowering her lips onto her body, teasingly licking the soy sauce she had just spread over it.

'Alex- oh god' Piper repeated Alex's name over and over, so turned on by every move her tongue made.

* * *

After being greeted by room service breakfast and taking a long hot bath together, Alex sat on her laptop, _with the concentrated face like she always wears when doing something work related_, and Piper stood on the balcony, taking photos of the beautiful views.

'Hey look at this one. The sunrise looks so serene.' Piper smiled with proudness at the photo she had just taken, walking over and tapping Alex on the shoulder, who didn't flinch. 'Hello? Could you at least acknowledge I'm speaking?' Piper sighed and sat on the bed. Alex rubbed her temples, not wanting to shout at her girlfriend, she knew she was bored.

'Babe. I have to try and figure stuff out. I've gotten in touch with Fahri. I explained what happened although there was a lot of swearing and shouting down the phone from his end.' Alex took her glasses off and turned to face Piper.

'What?! You spoke to Fahri? When was this?'

'When you were asleep. But anyway, he said that Kubra doesn't want me around at the moment, turns out that guy took a lot more than we thought. He and his fucking Russian crew have been after us for months. Kubra's lost a shit load of cash and apparently what my slip up made it a hundred times worse, so. Fahri said we need to stay away for now.'

'Like in hiding?'

'Yeah. Pretty much. I'm emailing Nicky and Lorna because they can't go back to the flat.'

'Wait- they can't go back either? How dangerous is this Kubra?!'

'Dangerous enough. It's not that he would hurt them it's just…we can't live there anymore.'

'What?!' Piper stood up and began to pace up and down the room, hands on her head. 'What do you mean? Are you saying that _none_ of us can go back?!' Her voice became loud and panicked and Alex stood up, taking her hands in hers to try and calm her.

'We can, we can. Just not for a while yet. I haven't got an exact plan yet but according to Kubra we have fucked up big time Piper and we need to stay on the down low.'

Piper lowered her head, and Alex took her chin, lifting it back up again and locking her forest green eyes with Piper's sky blue irises.

'It's going to be okay. We are going to be fine. When Kubra realises I'm not at the flat, He'll try and track my phone but I have a way of knowing when that happens, so, i'll trash the phone before it does and we'll get out of here. But we need to find somewhere different to live in New York. Or maybe not New York even.'

'Not New York?! Where then? Where the fuck are you gonna go? Alex I can't leave New York, my family are there, my friends - can I at least ring Polly or my Mom? And tell them-'

'You can't tell them anything Pipes, it's too risky for you to make contact right now till I'm sure they aren't tracking us.'

'I…I don't know if I can leave New York for good…' Piper's voice trailed off, the realisation of what was happening hit her.

'Well…I'm not saying you have to leave. It's your home, I get it.' Alex sat down on the bed. A tear ran down Piper's cheek. She wiped it with her sleeve and sat down next to her girlfriend, they both stared at the wall in silence. A few seconds passed, and Piper turned her head and stroked Alex's raven locks. _It feels like for once, I have to be the one that does the protecting.I hate seeing her like this._ 'No. Alex. You're my home. I go wherever you go.' She put her hand on Alex's thigh, seeing her green eyes filled with tears, at thought of losing her. They embraced, holding each other so tightly, because that's all they could do at that moment, hold each other and know that whatever was going to happen, they needed to stay together. Nothing would or could ever separate them, because Alex belonged to Piper, and Piper belonged to Alex, and that's the way it would always be.

* * *

**How was it?! Idk, I wrote it in kind of a rush, and as I've always said i'm planning on this being a long story. Please please drop me a a comment, even just to say hey, I miss seeing reviews from you guys! :(( thank you so much for reading, i'll post the next update asap xo**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey guys, sorry it's taken so long for an update, i'm awful at writing two stories at the same time lol. But this is the last chapter, quite honestly I ran out of ideas for this one, and I prefer the other fic i'm writing. Thanks for keeping up with this one though, this last chapter is probably a little rushed and shitty. But I hate leaving things without finishing them. Enjoy it! H xo**

**Chapter 17 - Homeward bound**

'We're fine mom. No, no I'm not sick. I just decided to stay out here a little longer. Yes, I'm with my friend, mom. Alex. Yes. Okay. I know you're annoyed, but Polly and I agreed it was best to just put the business on hold for now. Yep. Alright. Love you. Bye.'

Piper threw her phone onto the bed and put her arms around Alex's neck from behind, who was on her laptop like she had been for the past hour.

'Friend, huh?' Piper giggled at Alex's sarcastic comment.

'Shut up you.'

'How's your mom?'

'She's fine. Polly told her about the business. She's pissed off but, not much I can really do about that from here.' Piper said in between the kisses she was placing on Alex's head and neck.

'Pipes, you're distracting me' Alex chuckled, wriggling out her girlfriend's grip.

'What, you can stop what you're doing for a few hours surely.' Piper put her hands on Alex's shoulders and began to massage them. Alex closed her eyes for a few moments, tempted to slam down her laptop lid and launch herself at Piper.

'I have to get this sorted. Lorna and Nicky are going to stay put until I let them know that it's safe. Meanwhile, I'm gonna go and face Kubra. By myself.'

Piper froze, dropping her hands from Alex's shoulders. The silence hung in the air and Alex turned around slowly to face Piper, feeling the tension in the room rising.

'What the fuck? By yourself? Are you crazy?'

'It's my job, my responsibility. It's something I have to do and if you weren't here I would've done it anyway without you breathing down my neck.' Alex marched over to her bag to search for her cell phone.

'Breathing down your neck?! Last time I checked that man wanted you dead. Excuse me for giving a shit about your life Alex.' Piper yelled.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I'm just so stressed about this whole thing. It'll be fine though, I can talk it out with him properly, and then you and I will be safe to go back home.' She put her hands on Piper's shoulders, trying to reassure her.

'But I'm coming with you. I'm not just going to hang around here waiting, not knowing if you're alive or not.'

Alex sighed. 'He won't hurt me.'

'You don't know that. 24 hours ago he was ready to have you killed.'

'He didn't know the situation then and he was angry. I had Fahri explain what happened. He's cooled down a bit now, so all I need to do is meet him, and see if he needs me to help him track this asshole down. It was him fucking us over that got us in trouble.'

'No, you're not going to go after that man, from what it looks like he is more dangerous than Kubra.'

'I'm a big girl, Piper. I've been doing this for a long time. Plus I think you're forgetting that I'm his favourite employee.' She tucked Piper's loose hair behind her ears and smiled, knowing that her girlfriend could never stay mad. Piper let out a sigh and rolled her eyes.

'Right, okay. But I don't want to be too far away and you better have your phone on you. Where do you have to go to meet him?'

Alex kissed the blonde's cheek several times. 'Back in America. He's in Boston. I want you to stay in the hotel room when we're there. If you leave, I'll kill you.'

'Oh yeah?' Piper said teasingly, raising her eyebrows.

'Don't you even think about it.' Alex grabbed Piper's hips and pushed her onto the bed, kissing her repeatedly all over and tickling her, as she rolled around the bed in fits of laughter.

* * *

It had been a long flight, and Piper collapsed onto their bed the minute they entered their Boston hotel room. Soon enough, she was fast asleep, and Alex lay next to her, watching her chest rise and fall, pulling the duvet over her. She tiptoed across the room, grabbed the hotel keys, her phone and her jacket, which she threw on before walking to the door. She took one last look at Piper, looking so beautiful in her deep sleep. 'I won't be long Pipes. I'll be back before you wake up.' She whispered, before walking out the door and clicking it shut quietly behind her.

Kubra sat at a plain, scratched wooden table in a smoked filled apartment room, the lights dimmed for some reason. Two well-built men she didn't recognize stood behind him, arms folded. T_emporary bodyguards. _Fahri and Jack sat on the sofa, both smoking cigarettes, their eyes on Alex as she stood uncomfortably in the middle of the room, hands in pockets.

'Take a seat, Vause.' Kubra smiled, in a surprisingly friendly tone.

With slight hesitation, Alex stepped forward and pulled a wooden chair back from the table, perching on the edge of it. She scanned the room, keeping on guard in case they had anything planned against her.

'Don't look so nervous. How have you been? Hope your trip to Dubai was pleasant, minus the slight… hiccup.' Kubra grinned, now rolling tobacco on the table. He licked the paper, stone cold eyes fixed on Alex.

_I just want to get this fucking over with already, stop making small talk._

'It was good,' Alex gulped, 'Look, Kubra, I want to apologise for the mistake but none of us saw that coming. I had no idea he was going to take off like that-' She stopped speaking because Kubra held his hand up in the air which always meant he didn't want to hear any more.

'I am aware that you couldn't predict this. And he will pay for what he's been doing to my business. However, you should have done that job on your own. It wasn't for a drug mule to handle such an important trade. You knew he was capable of something dodgy either way.'

Alex shot a look at Fahri. He had been the one forcing her to get someone else to do it while she kept watch and gave him signals. Piper was not a drug mule of any kind, but she had helped out and Alex knew she should not have agreed to it. _Why wasn't Fahri getting any shit for this job? He was the one that fucking told me not to do it myself, that Piper or a mule had to do the trade so she could do the signalling. Fucking asshole messed it up. _She grinded her teeth, her eyes on a sheepish looking Fahri.

'I know. I'm sorry, Kubra. It won't happen again.'

'And I don't want to see your girlfriend ever again. If she is ever involved in my business…let's just say I'll get really angry. She's shit at it.' He chuckled, the other men joining in. Alex held her tongue from defending Piper.

'Message received. But it wasn't her fault. I should have done it myself. Fahri didn't exactly make it clear that's what I needed to do. He told me to do the signals. He treated it like an easy job that didn't need much organisation.' She gave Fahri a fake smile who put his head down. Kubra turned to look at Fahri, lighting his rolled cigarette.

'This was a big job Fahri. You didn't make the instructions clear to Vause?'

Fahri's eyes travelled across the room to the other men, as if they could come up with an answer.

'Did you tell her to use the blonde chick?'

'Yes, boss. I couldn't find anyone else in time. I thought Alex would have to stay watch so she could give us the signal and-'

'What, so you couldn't be fucked to recruit more people for the job? Instead you insist on her using her girlfriend who has no fucking clue what she's doing?'

Alex sat smugly as Kubra shouted at Fahri. She stood up to go to the bathroom as they continued to argue over the stupidly small details. _Who gives a shit, I'm off the hook._

'Vause.' Alex stopped in her tracks hearing her name. 'You can go now. I'll contact you for the next job. Get the fuck out of here and take your hot girlfriend with you.'

Kubra leaned over his tobacco, rolling another cigarette and gesturing her out the room. The bodyguards followed as she walked to the door.

'Thanks, Kubra.' She winked at a miffed looking Fahri. She was taking Piper with her alright. Back home, back to normal. _Thank fuck._

* * *

Alex was greeted by a pissed off looking girlfriend. Piper stood with her arms folded.

'I've been calling you. Where have you been?'

'Guess.' Alex couldn't help but smile, and she opened her arms for a hug.

'Not with Kubra? How was it? You're actually alive?!' Piper's face lit up and she ran into her girlfriends arms.

'Yep. I'm alive. Everything's good, Fahri admitted it was his fault, and Kubra understood we didn't really do anything wrong. So it's all fine and we can fly back home.' She inhaled the coconut scent of Piper's hair and kissed her head.

'Oh thank god Alex! Thank god.' Piper squeezed Alex tighter. _She's okay, it's all going to be okay. We can go home and go back to how it was before. _'I love you.' She said, pulling from the hug, looking into Alex's green eyes.

'I love you too, Piper.' Alex kissed her lips tenderly. 'Come and live with me. I don't think anything would feel normal unless your stuff was scattered across my room, or without your makeup and lotions taking up all of my bathroom shelves.' She laughed, watching Piper's shocked facial expression. 'That better be a yes.' She raised an eyebrow.

'Yes! Yes yes yes!' Piper practically jumped back into Alex's arms who nearly fell forward, trying to balance herself whilst lifting her girlfriend's body in her arms. Piper held Alex's face in her hands and kissed her. She had never been so happy. She was going to live with the love of her life, her drug smuggling, sarcastic, funny, stubborn, gorgeous girlfriend.

'We did okay as a team, kid. I don't think I could've done it without you.'

'Just shut up and kiss me Vause.'

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed, thank you guys so much for reading this fic :) Have a look at my other fic i'm writing now if you haven't already! See ya there, H xo**


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